did your parents label you?

i recently read a really touching article that a friend tore out of the new york times for me.   it is about how "the stories families tell assign roles to each person, and how those roles can become self-fulfilling prophecies."

the writer was raised under her own self-described label of "the one incapable of love."

she goes on to say, "maybe all parents say things like this to their children, meaning to describe rather than to harm."

she writes of how love in her family meant yelling, crying, and slamming doors---and was convinced that she could not love others. having only experienced the feeling of "a small, steady flame" when she was near her grandparents, she didn't realize it was love......then she had a baby.

i got teary-eyed when she expressed her new-found feelings toward her baby daughter as "a jolt, an electric sizzle that connected my head to my heart."

ok, now that i've quoted the entire thing, i think you will enjoy the read. it's quick but packs a punch...something to consider about how you were raised (be it a black or white sheep) and how you are raising your kids.