Sarah Bahar :
I feel like some Somali parents only know how to provide materially, but they don’t always know how to do much beyond that emotionally. Yes, they may provide a good education, pay for tuition, give their children everything they need financially, and make sacrifices for them. But that doesn’t automatically mean the emotional side of parenting is healthy.
As children get older, they start to see their parents for who they really are. They recognize manipulation, emotional abuse, control, and unhealthy behaviors that they may not have understood when they were younger. And once they become adults, they have every right to make their own choices and create boundaries.
We also need to stop victimizing parents simply because they are parents. Giving birth to a child does not mean that child automatically owes you their entire life. You made the decision to have children; they didn’t ask to be born.
How you treat your children is what shapes the relationship you have with them when they grow up. If you give them love, respect, understanding, and emotional safety, that relationship will likely carry into adulthood. But if you give them control, manipulation, disrespect, and emotional abuse, you can’t be surprised when they eventually choose distance and independence.
2026-08-11 23:49:21