Parental Dreams, Parental Nightmares

Bringing children into the world and raising them is an act of optimism relying on obstinate hope for the future despite grim prognostications: melting ice floes, unbreathable air, poverty and a panoply of violence and unreason. New parents are often stunned by their abruptly altered view of the world as a dangerous place.

Most of us, taking measure of that world, make a series of promises to our children when they’re very young: I will protect you. I will help you to make sense of your experience. You will not be alone.

As our children grow up and away from us, inheriting the world’s complications, we discover how poignant and futile those promises are. We begin to suspect that our love for our children, although essential, is also inadequate, because no matter how fervently we love them, we can’t keep them from harm.

- Schumacher, Julie. "A Support Group Is My Higher Power," The New York Times, July 6, 2008.