Something that struck me in this section of the reading is that no matter which generation you are in the mother's never come right out and tell the daughter's that they in fact are witches. They very carefully talk all around the subject without ever saying the actual words. I became very aware of it when Connie and Grace are talking about it on the phone. It was like Grace could not get off the phone fast enough. Almost like she was afraid she would spill the beans. It made me wonder if they can't because of an ill effect it could cause to themself or to the daughters, or if it is as simple as it became taboo due to it's history? Maybe it's even more than all that, what if we all have the power to some exstent but we only gain the use of the power through self awareness of it's exsistence! 
LoBugs wrote:Something that struck me in this section of the reading is that no matter which generation you are in the mother's never come right out and tell the daughter's that they in fact are witches. They very carefully talk all around the subject without ever saying the actual words. I became very aware of it when Connie and Grace are talking about it on the phone. It was like Grace could not get off the phone fast enough. Almost like she was afraid she would spill the beans. It made me wonder if they can't because of an ill effect it could cause to themself or to the daughters, or if it is as simple as it became taboo due to it's history? Maybe it's even more than all that, what if we all have the power to some exstent but we only gain the use of the power through self awareness of it's exsistence!
LoBugs..or maybe it is responsible parenting!! Mothers (or fathers) should not tell their children WHAT to think but help them learn HOW to think...not tell them the answers outright but encourage and guide them to their own answers in their own time. If someone (especially a parent) tells you what you are or should be or should do then it is never really yours, 100% chosen by you. And then there is that dynamic of rejecting (rebelling against) the very thing you yourself WOULD have chosen (accepted as your own, gone for, etc) but now can't or don't because someone else told you you should or had to.
You see a lot of this in 2 yr olds as well as adolescents! A fun and funny example: It's time for bed and Mommy tells her 2 yr old to go put on her red pajamas. Now the 2 yr old was heading for the red PJs but now, because mommy said so, making the red PJs mommy's idea and not hers, she can't! Terrible 2s? No, it's the whole separation and individuation thing; becoming your own person. With adolescents as well it seems they DO everything you tell them NOT to or NOT do what you tell them to do, especially (your opinion of)what's best for them. The more hmmmm-ing you do the better...those outright commands, demands and statements never go well with adolescents - or others for that matter! It has to be their own path, chosen by them, and IT IS hard to watch at times.
There was a social worker who really from early on wanted to become a doctor and didn't because her parents and the rest of the family said they thought she SHOULD be a doctor. She thought if she became a doctor it would be because they told her to be a doctor, and therefore not her choice. After a few years of therapy she chose to enter medical school to become a doctor. She told her parents, " I am going to be a doctor even though you want me to be one." It's how she owned it as her own even though it was what they also wanted for her.
It's dicey being a responsible parent sometimes! I am thinking back now over my harsh judgement of Grace with Connie. Hmmmm...I'm now thinking Grace knew more than I gave her credit for in the parenting department!
