parenting

Parenting is

Successful in hindsight

If your child turns out well

You can pat your back

Good job

It also involves

A lot of strategy

Motherhood cannot come naturally

Don’t listen to people who

Quote examples from the animal kingdom

Tell you how whales are natural mothers

And so are humans

Human behavior is less instinctive

More acquired

I know I have had to do

A trapeze act

Because I wanted to leave things

Neither to instinct

Nor to chance

Sometimes more was less

And less more

It is hard to dovetail footprints

Without smothering

Or obliterating

There is no short-cut

To experience

You cant simulate a tsunami

And the sheer terror

Of being chased by killer waves

And the raw, primal fear

Parenting is successful

When you can get your child

To avoid the tsunami

But that’s too easy, right

That’s what I meant

Success is only in hindsight