Maura Goes to the Circus

Maura had a big adventure without me last Saturday. She went to see the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus at the TD Garden with her Aunt Andrea and her cousins. She came home with a big red plastic clown nose and a smile on her face. By her breathless account she had a wonderful time. She went on about the pirate acrobats building human towers by flipping people into the air with a seesaw, the animal act in which an elephant picked up a dog and put him gently down in the ring and the seven motorcyclists riding inside the spherical steel cage. I wish I could have been there to see the smile on her face and the wonder in her eyes, not to mention the “greatest show on earth.”

As Maura gets older I know I’m going to miss more of her special times. She’ll have more opportunities to do fun things without her father and she won’t always want me around even if I can be there. That’s the way things should be. As children grow up they are supposed to develop their own identities and separate from their parents. They grow, they learn, they develop. It’s a parent’s job to help them when they need help and get out of their way when they don’t.

Maura is doing a good job of becoming herself. I’m happy and proud when I see her succeeding without help from me or her mother and I’m glad she doesn’t need us all the time. I’m especially glad she doesn’t need our help to have fun. Maura’s growing independence tells me that her mother and I are doing our job as parents. I’m also happy that Maura does still need us, and not just to feed her, cloth her and get her to school. She still needs our approval, our advice and our company. She still wants to be read to and tucked in at night. She still needs to be reminded of her responsibilities and provided with consequences when she fails to fulfill them despite the reminders. She still enjoys having adventures with her father.

I enjoy having adventures with Maura, too. She is good company. She is intelligent, curious and good natured. I’m happy to spend time with her. So, to Maura I say, “I like the circus, too. Let’s go together sometime.”