I had a wonderful conversation with my 13 year old daughter at the dinner table tonight. She told me a sad story about a couple friends of hers who are going through tough phases right now.
One girl is going is succumbing to peer pressure to be all grown up way too fast.
The other girl is buckling under parental pressure to be perfect in every way thereby creating a Mt. St. Helen's eruption in 5, 4, 3...
Poor kids.
She told me how lucky she felt not to have those pressures. Of course she has pressures, as all teenagers do, but hers are not the two above. She told me that she was grateful to me for that.
I smiled at her and told her that I had to take ALL of the credit for how wonderful of a young lady she is turning out to be. All of it. My credit. I told her that it was part of my very calculated, very intentional plan. Yes. A plan that involved years of scheming. A plan that involved specific calculated decisions. A plan that was perfect in the making. A plan that was...
Built upon instinct and love.
After hearing this she looked at me with a face of confusion.
So I proceeded to elaborate on said plan.
Mom's Loving Diabolical Instinctual Plan:
1. Ban teen fashion dolls which are dressed more provocatively than you'd EVER let your own daughter dress.
2. Don't add unnecessary pressures that won't truly matter in the end.
3. Hug often.
4. Be...
...Silly.
5. Foster individualism & creativity.
6. Forget the plan.
Follow your motherly-loving instincts. We have 'em for a reason. Trust them. And though as parents we all make mistakes...
You can't go wrong with love.
I love you, Lil D. Bunches. :)
Awwww. It isn't just motherly-loving, us dads have it too!
ReplyDeleteYou're so very right, John! In fact, you dads have a very special gift that we moms don't...Dads have the amazing power of baby-toss-depth-perception. You know just how high you can toss your baby in the air without dropping them! Truly a gift! ;)
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