“I always had the sense that nothing was never good enough - striving for perfection. My mother and I had a sort of typical mother-daughter relationship.” EnoughMotherDaughterPerfectionStriveGood EnoughTypicalMother DaughterMother Daughter RelationshipStriving For PerfectionNever Good Enough Author:Dorothy Hamill
“The mother's first kiss teaches the child love; the first holy kiss of the woman he loves teaches man hope and faith in life; and love and faith create a desire for perfection and the power of reaching towards it step by step; create the future, in short, of which the living symbol is the child, link between us and the generations to come.” MenFirstsChildrenMotherDesireStepsTeachGenerationsHolyKissingPerfectionAnd LoveSymbolsReachingLinksLife And LoveFirst KissHope And FaithChildren LoveFaith And Love Book:The Duties of Man and Other Essays Source: The Duties of Man and Other Essays
“As he walks away on his own two feet--the toddler's body-mind has reached its moment of perfection. The world is his and he the mighty conqueror of all he beholds.... As long as mother sticks around in the wings, the mighty acrobat confidently performs his trick of twirling in circles, walking on tiptoe, jumping, climbing, staring, naming. He is joyous, filled with his grandeur and wondrous omnipotence.” WorldMindLongTwoMomentsBodyMotherWalksFeetWalkingPerfectionFilledWingsSticksCirclesTricksStaringClimbingJumpingJoyousGrandeurConquerorWondrousOmnipotenceToddlerTiptoesTwirling Author:Louise J. Kaplan
“Women are taught that their main goal in life is to serve others--first men, and later, children. This prescription leads to enormous problems, for it is supposed to be carried out as if women did not have needs of their own, as if one could serve others without simultaneously attending to one's own interests and desires. Carried to its "perfection," it produces the martyr syndrome or the smothering wife and mother.” IfsMenNeedsFirstsChildrenProblemLife IsMotherDesireWomenGoalInterestWifeProduceTaughtPerfectionEnormousSupposed To BeMartyrPrescriptionsLife GoalAttendingSyndromesWives And Mothers Book:Toward a New Psychology of Women Source: Toward a New Psychology of Women
“The tension to mother the "right" way can leave a peculiar silence within mother daughter relationships--the silence of a mother'sown truth and experience. Within this silence, a daughter's authentic voice can also fall silent. This is the silence of perfection. This silence of perfection prevents mothers from listening and learning from their daughters.” WayMotherFallVoiceSilenceListeningDaughterPerfectionSilentTensionPeculiarRight WayMother DaughterMother Daughter Relationship Author:Elizabeth Debold