“The mother-child relationship is paradoxical and, in a sense, tragic. It requires the most intense love on the mother's side, yet this very love must help the child grow away from the mother and become fully independent”
— Erich Fromm
Simplified Meaning:
Imagine a mother bird and her baby bird. The mother bird loves her baby very much and does everything she can to help it grow, like feeding it and keeping it warm. She wants the baby bird to be happy and strong. However, for the baby bird to live its own life and be truly happy, it needs to learn to fly and leave the nest one day. This is hard for the mother bird because it means letting go of her baby that she loves so much. For people, it's similar. A mother loves her child deeply and does everything to keep the child safe and strong. But for the child to grow up and become an independent person, the mother has to allow the child to make their own decisions and sometimes even fail. This might feel sad or difficult for the mother, but it’s necessary for the child to become an adult. In life, this means parents should support their children but also give them the space to learn and become their own person.
