The Old and the Young

When I was talking to my 5 year old daughter a few weeks ago while visiting my parents and brother, I was telling her how it was my brother’s job (at least one of his jobs) to help take care of my older parents. It was something that is done because it’s necessary and that’s what family does for each other. My daughter pondered the comment for a while.

After she was done with her thought, she told me I couldn’t have that job. I asked her why and she said that I had three young kids (including her) and that my job was to take care of them. That’s right I said and that’s my job (or at least one of my jobs). She then went on to say how when people become grown ups, they take care of the old and the young because we are in the middle.

I couldn’t believe what I heard because it was an interesting insight into society and how things were set up. My daughter noticed this pattern and called it out. It made me pause a bit because it wasn’t until my parents got older and required more care that I realized this obligation was starting to materialize as a grown up. Then after having kids, I felt stuck in between needing to care for my kids, but also wanting to be around my parents who were living very far away from us. It’s like being caught between two worlds and my daughter noticed that right away from a passing comment. It definitely surprised me and it’s funny how she articulated her thought in such a direct way yet it also made me feel better about the situation since everyone was doing their best at what they needed to do.