my thoughts on independence

cross posted from an API status comment:

honestly i don't think humans were ever made to be 'independent'. we as human beings have always relied on the family/friends/village dynamic which has helped us thrive for more than a millenia. we have healthy dependencies like affection/acknowledgment from parents when you are young and from those experiences you learn to foster a positive relationship with family, friends, then society, then with your partner as you grow older, then your own children, grandchildren, etc. its not just the mother child relationship that it damages, this push for independence could damage future relationships too. sure, research has shown that attachment can be refostered after 5 years but in this age how many married couples divorce with in 5 years?

i went to a birthday party for a friend's son, as my son bounced in the bounce house with about 5 other children he had never met who mostly spoke spanish, i realized I had never left him without me or my husband for more than an hour and now its time for him to leave, smiling amongst strangers.