Parenting in the Opposites

The Sand Box

I’ve been putting a lot of thought into what’s been so challenging about parenting my son lately.  I find myself confounded at times by my own seemingly inconsistent behavior in meeting his needs.  This past weekend at the Tractor Day, it struck me.  I’m being bi-polar.

Now, when we hear the term bi-polar and we tend to limit our thinking to the mental illness.  Yet Jung defined the psyche itself as bi-polar in an attempt to help us see the fullness of what is living through us, the objective psyche.  The heart of his work explores the mystery of the opposites and how the dynamic tension they create makes consciousness possible.  

Currently, when my son gets going in his story telling he’s liable to walk unknowingly into the middle of the street.  That will not do.  So on one hand he needs tight boundaries.  On the other hand, he need enthusiastic prompting, encouragement to break free of his self-imposed limits.  But getting him revved up sends him heading into the road, so to speak… Essentially these are opposing actions, and he needs both modeled for him.    

I’m getting more comfortable with what I’ve been feeling.  I sense it’s right for parents to demonstrate the complexity of our innate psychic condition.  Preferably it gets modeled knowingly…