Mother-daughter wedding planning: A lesson in parent diplomacy

A mother knows best, sometimes. How not to be the parent "to be dealt with": One mom learns a lesson in parent diplomacy during mother-daughter wedding planning.

|
Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Mother-daughter wedding planning meant one mom had to know when to keep quiet.

The only thing I want more than independent, confident grown children is to be unconditionally supportive when they take their own advice over mine. May I never become the parent who must be "dealt with" when this happens.

Easier said than done, I realized, after a recent phone conversation with our engaged daughter. She had been trying to address a tricky gap between ceremony and reception which would leave guests with two hours to kill, a challenging issue for out-of-towners with no knowledge of the area. She suggested guests could be guided to area attractions.

In a devil's-advocate – but possibly biased – way, because I will be one of those out-of-towners, I counter-suggested that this would never work. I elaborated: She'd lose the guests who might be otherwise engaged at reception time, or, she'd be receiving guests at reception time who were cocktailed out. Not to mention that long after photos were taken, she'd have to hang around for the afternoon in her wedding dress.

"You know, you're making me feel really bad about this decision," she said.

RELATED: Are you a Helicopter Parent? Take our quiz!

First of all, good for me for raising a child who isn't afraid to admonish me (tactfully) when it's called for. Second, good for everyone else in my circle of friends and family now that it had been pointed out to me, how sometimes (actually, often) I confuse listening with being supportive; much like confusing being asked for input with being asked to take over.

Although I have sons, I don't expect to conflict with their decision-making or rationale the way I expect I could with daughters who now, in their 20s, have begun to show me that the frame of reference that supports their decisions is nothing like my own.

The psychological term for this – becoming ourselves as we experience life and ascribe to new beliefs and values – is "individuation." It is a fascinating process to experience and observe; a shift in relating that feels likes distance is both created and narrowed at the same time, improving both the near and far view of things.  

We gain the distance we need to see our grown child perhaps as others do, while gaining enough proximity to one another to communicate on a near-same, adult level. I failed in my "parent-as-devil's advocate" response to Courtney's timing problem. However, things went well once I pretended to be her upstairs neighbor.

In this spirit, and because I wish to communicate more than I wish to be validated, I have already begun to change my ways. When a point in the conversation is reached that I described above, I get off the phone, or, if I'm in a restaurant, I go to the rest room.

First, and very carefully, I consider that little dent that I'm about to put in our relationship, in the back, where nobody can see it and so it won't get fixed, but won't be forgotten either.  I consider what I won't say when the conversation resumes:

"If I were you."

RELATED: Are you a Helicopter Parent? Take our quiz!

"It's your wedding/party/baby/boyfriend/job/decision."

"Seriously?"

"Really?"

"You don't think?"

"Fine."

"But..."

Instead, I consider saying what my closest friends say to me when I'm making a decision: "What are your thoughts?" Or, after I've described a problem: "What will you do about that?"

Minding my own beliefs and values has made me realize that great communication between mothers and daughters can happen as it does between friends: When one does not take the decision of the other personally.

It's surprising to be scolded by your child but, later, there's a nice moment when you realize you've been told you're wrong in a way that allows you to keep your way, and let your daughter, who soared past your expectations long ago, keep hers.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best family and parenting bloggers out there. Our contributing and guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor, and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Mother-daughter wedding planning:  A lesson in parent diplomacy
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/Modern-Parenthood/2012/0827/Mother-daughter-wedding-planning-A-lesson-in-parent-diplomacy
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe