That left the neglect question. There was just too much evidence. The medical history, David's specific memories, and most tellingly Fiona's present way of being. She was once again totally engrossed in a mate. To this day she didn't even recognize that David had a speech impediment. The emotional problems skimmed right over her head. They were up to Erika. Her grandchild interested her but rarely. It's difficult for a mother--particularly a young mother--to respect a mom like that, but Erika was not so much tolerant as dismissive of the past. She had the practical new world approach; the Moores were the ones engrossed in the world of yesterday. In this sense, she realized that motherhood's a tough job, so tough that no parents do it perfectly, even working together. An Olympic weightlifter she consulted about squats and thrusts--form, technique--once said, 'No two guys lift the same': like marriages, childrearing's hard to judge from outside. Americans, some explicitly believing in absolute morality, and all under that influence, naturally tend to judge everyone by one standard. But people have facets. Some good mothers are perfectly intolerable human beings, while some fine people just don't have a parenting instinct, never develop sympathy for children. They discipline well and encourage badly, or vice versa. Erika was satisfied with this amount of progress. Forward looking, she had no driven need to delve farther into this past, but getting some background established about her husband’s history was important. What she worked out was subject to revision, not set in stone, but the outlines were pretty determinate compared to her in laws’ uncertain, fearful and waffling vision. Erika kept her own counsel.
That left the neglect question. There was just too much evidence. The medical history, David's specific memories, and most tellingly Fiona's present way of being. She was once again totally engrossed in a mate. To this day she didn't even recognize that David had a speech impediment. The emotional problems skimmed right over her head. They were up to Erika. Her grandchild interested her but rarely. It's difficult for a mother--particularly a young mother--to respect a mom like that, but Erika was not so much tolerant as dismissive of the past. She had the practical new world approach; the Moores were the ones engrossed in the world of yesterday. In this sense, she realized that motherhood's a tough job, so tough that no parents do it perfectly, even working together. An Olympic weightlifter she consulted about squats and thrusts--form, technique--once said, 'No two guys lift the same': like marriages, childrearing's hard to judge from outside. Americans, some explicitly believing in absolute morality, and all under that influence, naturally tend to judge everyone by one standard. But people have facets. Some good mothers are perfectly intolerable human beings, while some fine people just don't have a parenting instinct, never develop sympathy for children. They discipline well and encourage badly, or vice versa. Erika was satisfied with this amount of progress. Forward looking, she had no driven need to delve farther into this past, but getting some background established about her husband’s history was important. What she worked out was subject to revision, not set in stone, but the outlines were pretty determinate compared to her in laws’ uncertain, fearful and waffling vision. Erika kept her own counsel.
final_triage.docx