MY TEENAGER TAUGHT ME NEW WAYS TO LOVE by Elizabeth Spencer Mom TO THE RESCUE
CHOCOLATE AS ART.
I don’t love my children the same way. At least, I don’t if “love” is more often an action than it is a feeling. (And I truly believe that’s the case.) I love—the feeling—both my children fiercely and deeply in equal measure, if a mother’s love is something that can actually be measured. But I do not love—the action—my children in the same way, because love has to look and sound like something to the person being loved, and my two children see and hear love in different ways. Not long ago, my teenager taught me some new ways to love.
Loving my first baby through the teenage years did not really prepare me for walking through those years with her younger sister. My older daughter is my pleaser, my child who has me listed as “mommy” on her phone and jokes we won’t have to worry about her coming home for Christmas when she’s an adult because she’s never going to have left in the first place. My second and last baby is my strong-spirited child who often prefers quick side hugs and who’s called me “mom” for a long time. She’s fascinat- ing and intricate and determined and so insight- ful. She’s a complex puzzle worth putting together and a dance worth every tricky step.
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But parenting her has been an intense experience.
103 JUNE 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
102 SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2021
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