The Kids

On Children

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, 'Speak to us of Children.' 
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

~Khalil Gibran

My kids are not mine.  They belong to no one but themselves.  They are individuals with their own thoughts and their own souls.  I get the privilege of nurturing them and witnessing their lives.  These thoughts are helpful to me as I've let go of some time/involvement/influence with them this past year. How are the kids through all this?  The kids are living arrows that fly, and we have so much gladness between us.