The Terrible 8's

Maggie Alderson's article You Can't Take It As Read in last weekend's GW was HILARIOUS.

Our children are of us - but they are not us. They are entirely separate beings. My daughter is 8 years old now and I'm still trying to get a handle on this.

She might have been referencing Khalil Gibran:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

http://www.katsandogz.com/onchildren.html

After all the travails with Beth over recent months, I finally feel vindicated.

It's not my fault - it's cos she's 8!