Revelation

Every once in a while, I glimpse the limits of my omniscience as my daughter's parent. I know her better than anyone, but there are still things I don't know and probably can't know.

Most of the time, I really want to know her every thought and attitude and feeling. I've been working so hard, since the day she was born, to read and understand her, even to anticipate her needs and wants, that this still seems like what I am supposed to do. But sometimes she'll be sucking her thumb and staring off into space, and I know something's going on in there but have no idea what--she's working something out, remembering something, imagining something, who knows? And now that she can tell me what she needs and wants, she can also dissemble, manipulate, and willfully withhold information. She's developing an interiority.

So I guess I'm starting to recognize that there are times when, instead of prying in my usual way--"what are you thinking about? what did you do in school today? etc."--I should give her a little privacy.