ABSTRACT
This chapter describes ways in which the couple create a cradle for each partner's inner child. How the couple cradle the inner child determines how a child in the family is greeted each moment of the day. Perhaps firm building of the cradle occurs when the extended family acknowledges the formation of the couple. The chapter describes some typical problematic areas for the parents' relationship and looking after the inner child in a way that deepens the intimacy and beauty in the parental couple's relationship. Cradling the inner child involves each partner making a courageous attempt to be fully honest with the other. It involves a little silence and then each partner openly sharing the feelings of the inner child while the other partner provides the cradle for the inner child. The inner child emerges only as intensely needy and wanting in the context of an intimate, trustworthy partnership.
