Warmth, encouragement, a sense of safety and security and the inculcation of assurance that they will always be received with understanding and compassion is essential to the development of strong, resilient and balanced personality in chlldren.

I empathise with the distance you experienced between yourself and your mother and I applaud that you have learned positively from it, such that your own children receive what they need to be compassionate, caring and loving people - able to express those characteristics.

Clearly, you have recognised that your mother was not without love or care for you but rather a victim, herself, of nurturing - or perhaps non-nurturing is a better description - that left her without the capacity or ability to demonstrate what she really feels. That you seek understanding rather than blame is a wonderful quality and I believe one from which your children and, through them, others will gain much benefit.

Your article was brief but displays how even the most seminal issues may gain weight through their simplicity and brevity.

Thank you for this. ☮️ #BeOpen