Kira Roerig, a Family Therapist at Anasazi Foundation, shares the Native American legend of the moccasins and talks about the importance of parents allowing their children to have their own journey.
Transcript of The Legend of the Moccasins:
So, something that I often share with parents: there’s this old Native American story about a father and a son. And, in this story, the son is walking about the face of the earth. And he’s stepping on rocks and things that are pokey and prickly and thistles and thorns. And so, this loving father, out of love for his son, covers the earth with leather to help his son’s journey.
And, as his son goes on, walking about the face of the earth, he continues to get poked and pricked by the thistles and thorns and so the father lays more leather over the earth. And then, eventually, the father realized that he would do better to give his son the leather and teach him how to make moccasins. So that he can have his own journey.
For some parents it is—that’s a really hard journey because of the love that they have for their child, to be able to come to a place where they can teach their kids skills, but then let them have that journey.
There was a mom one time—who is not unlike most moms that I work with—and she said: “I would love to bubble wrap my daughter until she’s twenty five and stick her in a closet.” And so, it’s hard! But as parents work as their own journey, it is actually an expression of confidence in your child to say: “I’m not going to help you. I’m not going to do anything for you that you can do for yourself. Because I believe in you.”
