Perspective

My first follower and friend JJ asked me what I thought of Oprah's interview with Wanda Barzee's children.   Wanda Barzee is one of Elizabeth Smart's kidnappers  They talked about their life growing up with their abusive father and crazy mother.  Wanda divorced her first husband then married religious radical Brian David Mitchell.  She did some pretty horrible things to her children.  For example, she served her youngest daughter her pet rabbit for dinner and told her it was chicken.  The cruelty that people dream up continues to amaze me.  Her children sensed she needed mental help from a young age, but Wanda also suffered from abuse by their  father. 

 

What I took away from this show was how each child had different memories of their experiences growing up.  The oldest daughter was the closest to her mother and was the favored child.  She was more willing to forgive her mother than the others.  I thought about my siblings and how we were all raised in the same house, but it never really occurred to me how we each may have a different perspective of our childhood  based on birth order or perhaps favoritism.  I think most people love their children unconditionally, but we all have different personalities which makes us unique.  My children have very different personalities and as a parent sometimes you can just relate to one more than another.  It doesn't make their perspective wrong it's just different from yours.  As a result we can all have different recollections of the same story.  The next time my husband remembers a story differently from me I'll have to keep this in mind.