I did not intend to be a father. It was a midlife surprise. My wife and I refer to it as an “appliance failure.”

It was the most wonderful failure of my entire life. And I would never wish it to have been any other way.

When I stood at the bedside of my wife, weary and joyful from the end of her labor, and held that child of our making in my arms for the first time, I understood the meaning of “miracle.” That little being looking back at me was at once a part of me and totally distinct from me. He was “self” and “other” formed into one.

Nurturing children is no easy task. How do we guide them without harm and without losing our integrity? Vimala McClure addresses these questions with poetic wisdom in The Tao of Motherhood, which we recently republished in a twentieth anniversary edition.

But poetry can raise as many questions as it answers. When family-management blogger Katina Ferguson interviewed Vimala, we found the discussion fascinating, and we’re reprinting part of it here to share more of Vimala’s unique perspective on mothering. Enjoy!