Mothers talking: Have courage!

The other day I was looking over an article that really impressed me. I put it aside to read in a quiet moment - and it was disposed of by my partner in a tidying-frenzy. But that's a different story, and will be told another time. So the article was bundled, tied up, is untraceable, but I kept the most important messages from it. Maybe even the title was the same as the one of this column. A children's book author wrote about courage. About courage she often doesn't have and courage she wants to pass on to her child. But where to take the courage from? In a world full of potential dangers. In which, at some point, you have to explain to your child that accidents happen, diseases break out or why someone plants bombs. That people die. The author spoke of her own fear. And it reminded me a lot of myself. And one of the most terrifying landing approaches. Berlin-Zurich, I was looking forward to coming home after two days without my child. The homebound flight is bumpy, the landing approach nothing but shaky - we went back into the air and needed a second attempt. In this quarter of an hour I died a thousand deaths and I swor to never again sit in a plane without my daughter, or even better, not to fly at all. At this moment I realized how much I cherished life since the birth of my child. I realized that with Ada, fear has come into my life. Fear of something happening to her - or to me. Isn't it my duty to be there for her? My "live fast, die young" attitude is long gone. Its too late anyway. But how do I combine my fears with my desire to turn my daughter into a courageous, confident woman? That she goes out and conquers the world, not letting anything stop her. Especially not fear. What can I give her if already a shaking plane panics me? Unfortunately, I forgot what the clever author, who also writes terrific children's books, recommended in this case. I only know what I definitely won't be doing after this horror flight (after which I still got on planes alone). And that is to whitewash my child. She must know that there is good and evil in this world, life and death. She's allowed to know that sometimes mum is afraid, too. That things happen which are bad and that we can't protect ourselves from them. But that life is beautiful nonetheless. That all this is part of it. The joy, the sadness and the courage. That every day needs to be lived. Celebrated. Hugged. That life is full of possibilities.

The current Bobo Choses collection suits this mood perfectly. Neverending Summer "was inspired by the ethologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall, who in the conservative 1950s threw away her career as a secretary and made her dream come true by going to Africa. She attained her doctorate without having studied before. Dedicated her life to protecting the chimpanzees. She writes books, teaches, founded a research centre and is a UN peace ambassador. It's sad to think that she would have let fear stop her. I would like to tell my girl about such role models. And encourage her with it. The Jane swimsuit will probably be our favourite piece of the coming summer (which is hopefully approaching fast).

Other favourite pieces from Bobo Choses' current collection: