Today is my daughters birthday- which basically means, I know exactly what I was doing seventeen years ago today…

When you have a child (whether it be biological or adoptive), you can’t hope but have dreams and expectations of what your child will be.  When they’re really little, you look at baby books to watch them hit the milestones, see if they’re crawling and saying words when the book says it’s appropriate. Then you watch them take their first swings, or kicks and you think about their athletic prowess. Or you see them at science fair and think Doctor or engineer. The school play makes you thing- ‘watch out Meryl Streep’, and the concert makes you think about being their date to the Grammys. We take our child, and we see the future, what can be….all the good stuff. And these things are all good- they’re great in fact. To be a success at anything requires brains, perseverance, hard work…and sometimes we forget that those are the goals we should be hoping for our children.

Now, you all know I am immensely proud of my daughter.  She has a room full of trophies and plaques, a binder full of certificates, copies of published writings, a school record that is nothing short of outstanding. And yes, I am proud of all these accomplishments. And frankly, a bit astonished, because I know her lineage…

When I first jotted down notes for todays blog, I was going to very smugly give parenting tips highlighting how you can help your child be a high achiever.  But then of course my daughter had to show me up.

As you may know, she is co-captain of her school tennis team, and has been for three years. Last week she came home with an envelope from one of her teammates, a Freshman. In short, the note thanked my daughter for being such a great teammate. She wrote that my daughter helped make the transition to high school so much easier, and that she was grateful for the support my daughter gave her. My daughter smiled when she read the note.  I teared up.

And that’s when I came to my big realization. Out of all the hopes and dreams I have had for my kid, I sort of forgot about hoping that she becomes a good person. And yet, lo and behold, she has become a pretty good person. (not without fault…let’s get that straight….)

What’s the message for today?

Well, obviously Happy 17th to my daughter.

And…

Try to remember to teach your child to be a good person. Think about it like this: how great would the world be if we all tried to make one persons life a little better? Just one person, helping one other person. And… if we tried not to make anyone’s life worse…

Talk about a future filled with possibilities…

33 thoughts on “Happy 17th”

  3. What a great week for birthdays! My youngest turns 10 tomorrow! And it IS my ultimate goal as a mother to raise kind and thoughtful daughters. My oldest has proven time and time again that she is that kind of person, as she has fought to have her life and understands to power of kindness. My youngest, the double-digit gal tomorrow, is still a work in progress. 😉

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  6. Happy Birthday! And YES, seeing your child do something for others is the BEST feeling. Thanks for the reminder. It’s so easy to get caught up in school work and teaching them life skills that I can forget the important things.

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      1. I hope you saved me a piece. it would be great with morning coffee. then again, your husband would probably say “Hey! Who is this guy and why is he with my woman???”

        husbands can be so not understanding of cake needs sometimes.

        Liked by 2 people

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