All Parents Damage Their Children

I am in the middle of reading "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" by Mitch Albom.
In the book on page 104 he writes:
"All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair."

When I first read this passage, I took exception to it. But after giving it some thought I realized that there is a lot of truth to this statement. All of us have heard of children who have been abused and have had childhoods shattered "into jagged little pieces, beyond repair." Often they grow up to be adults with jagged edges that injure all that come into contact with them.

Pure molten glass can be formed into beautiful and delicate items with the gentlest of touches. Every touch or action leaves a permanent impression on the glass and in the right hands it can be shaped into a beautiful vessel. But too heavy of a hand will shatter the glass into fragments that are unable to be repaired. So it is with our children. I have come to realize that every action we take and every word we speak leaves a permanent impression, good or bad, on this pristine glass that is a child. Every positive action such as a hug or bit of praise polishes the glass a bit more and slowly shapes the vessel into a work of art. On the other hand, each negative action whether it is verbal, physical or emotional creates another chip or crack in the glass and will ultimately produce a flawed vessel.

The question we all need to ask ourselves is whether our actions and words are creating a work of art or a flawed vessel.