More than mommy

Can a mother be a daughter’s best friend? Some say yes, some say no.

Best friend is different than a mother-daughter relationship. It requires having common experiences, eg.  growing up together, attending the same school/ college or being in the workplace together. Mothers and daughters are never in the same stage of life at the same time, so the relationship is never equal.

I recently read that parenting begins with us (the parents), not the child. It is like the analogy of oxygen masks on an airplane. The flight attendants always tell us that in the case of emergency, secure your oxygen mask FIRST and then your child’s.  If we apply this on the ground, only after we are balanced and secure can we model that kind of strength and security in our children.  OK, this sounds very theoretical.

I just wish that I can be one of S’s good friends - need not be the best, but I will be happy if I’m one of her confidants… 

I hope we can have a better relationship than that of between my mom and I.

I hope we can find a way to strike a balance between nurturing friendship while maintaining a healthy mother-daughter dynamic. 

Let’s pray that both of us will have the wisdom to realise this wish…