Smashed, kneaded and sculpted

Hubs and I recently started attending a new parenting course called Growing Kds God’s Way. It follows the same series as the Preparation for Parenting a.k.a. Babywise course we had done a few years back in the B.C. (Before Children) era before two became three.

True to form, prior to the course, I checked out various forums and reviews on the book and programme to find out more about what to expect, especially since encountering various criticisms on the general content and philosophy of these programmes.

As with all things, there are both good sides and bad sides to the story. There are just too many parenting books and philosophies to choose from in the world nowadays, so why this one?

But after some discussion and reflection, we agreed to attend the course not because we want to become perfect textbook parents, but primarily for the interaction and dialogue we can have with the other parents attending the course so we can journey along together with them and be honest with our own parenting questions and concerns as we encounter them along the way.

Yesterday was the second class in this 19-session course featuring the need to establish the right beginnings of the relationship between the husband and the wife as the priority in the family.

We revisited the age old story of Adam and Eve where the first romantic lines were ostensibly quoted:

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh”

The significant point being that man and woman are one. And the first thing that came to mind was this story shared by my friend Irene on ‘smashed clay’ – this part of the poem/story was my particular favourite…

…Take one lump of clay
Knead one you,
Sculpt one me.
Smash them both into pieces,
Mix them with water,
Knead another you,
Sculpt another me:
In my clay there is you,
In your clay there is me.
In life you and I share a single coverlet,
In death a single grave!

It was all I could do right in the middle of the session not to snigger or snort out loud imagining my dear Irene’s emphasis on the smashing and the death and the grave. The smashing analogy is especially accurate for me – quite a few smashings, kneading and sculpting occurring along the way. I’ll try to remember this story in future to take all the smashings in good stride.