Comment by barrkel
15 years ago
I find the implied converse of this quote (and its more usual version, applying to work) less than convincing. I've had more than my fill with my parents, thanks; I don't wish they had spent less time working and more time with me. I think there's a selfishness in that, a narcissistic desire to own more of the lives of your children, who, ultimately, are going to break free of you, and live their own lives.
I am sorry for being harsh... but I think is the present neglected version of yourself that does not want to hang around with your parents.
And yes, it would be foolish from them to expect, having not devoted enough time to your infant/child version, to try to compensate by devoting unwanted attention to your adult self.
However, it has been proven once and again. Children were not meant to be put in daycare. They were meant to be grown within an extended family environment (complete with elder siblings/cousins to look up to and younger siblings/cousins to look after).
That's why we are so SNAFU these days.
FWIW, my parents were an actor / community theatre director and author / scriptwriter respectively. The nature of those kinds of work means that they were almost always at home.