Kids need affection to thrive
D vora a put-together 45-year-old should be a very self-confident woman: she’s a successful entrepreneur a beloved wife and mother an active member of her community. Yet inside she’s still a frail insecure approval-seeking child.
“It doesn’t matter what I do or accomplish ” she explains “I can never feel good about myself. I think my mother has a lot to do with it.”
Tears roll down her cheeks as she continues “She was very practical. She felt her job was to teach us kids right from wrong and she did a good job of that. But she wasn’t warm or affectionate. I never felt loved or cherished. I think this is why I’m so desperate to prove myself all the time.”
Although Dvora is now a middle-aged woman her childhood pain is fresh; just remembering the past is enough to awaken a flood of tears and an ache in her heart. Moreover the feeling of being unseen and uncared for is as alive now as it was all those decades ago — time has been unsuccessful at healing her wound.
