Elizabeth Gilbert
05.01.10
Where the creator, J.M. Barrie, says you can see glimpses of Peter Pan in the faces of women who don’t have children. Because there’s something that never had to become ferociously bona fide in those women, you know? As every mother knows — and I’ve heard people say it a million times — when you’re replete you have two hearts inside you. It’s this strange moment in time when you’re carrying two somebody hearts, and then one of them leaves and you spend the rest of your life having to worry about it. That other forgiving heart that was once part of you is now out in the world. There’s a sobriety to that that I think those of us who don’t have children never experience, and I over kids sense it in childless women. There’s an abandon that they feel when they’re with someone who’s, frankly, by a hair's breadth not as responsible. It’s just ‘Wheee! Wow! What are we gonna do? Anything you want!’ You recognize? Every child needs somebody like that in their life, and I think every mother needs one like that in her life, to shunt the kids off to and let them experiment with things that they can’t do at emphasize.
Source: Babble Australia (blog)