narcissistic society

Transfered... from 8/21/07


narcissistic society
I was talking to a friend recently while watching my daughter play. She was noticing how active my daughter was and asked me what kind of activities I was going to get her into. When I told her that I didn't know, considering that my daughter is only 3, she was shocked!



She then proceeded to tell me exactly what activities her future children would be involved in. Keep in mind, this friend of mine is not married, pregnant, or will be either in the foreseeable future.



One of the activities her children were going to be involved in was water polo. She was involved in it as a teenager and said that her kids would be to. When she said this, it sparked my attention. Why decide that now? And do the children have a choice in this matter?




So I asked her… "What if your child develops a fear of water?"




To this she replied "Oh that's what therapy is for"




This got me thinking even more. She is actually going to send her child to therapy so that her child can follow her dreams! Am I the only one who finds this a bit strange?




What troubles me more is that, although a bit on the extreme side, this is not an unusual mindset. It is one thing to want your child to grow up with your values and set of beliefs. It is completely another to want them to grow up to be you.


Many parents want their children to grow up in their image. Does this sound familiar? To form someone in your own image? It sounds a bit like something I've heard…. Where was that? Oh yeah…. In church! Hmmm… Play God lately, anyone?




Should we really be doing this? Or should we encourage our children to follow their own dreams? To make their own paths in life. We tell them not to follow the crowd, not to do things just because others are doing them, but then we turn around and do this. "Oh honey, don't follow the crowd, just be the complete mirror image of me!"




Wow… what a narcissistic society we live in, isn't it?