Dear Daughter On Your Birthday

 

Dear O,

You are strong, smart & capable. You are beautiful because of who God created you to be, the physical stuff is the cherry on top of an already gorgeous human being. At your highest of highs & your lowest of lows, regardless of your age, I want you to always know that your father & I are in your corner as you go through this life, that we value you for your ideas, your voice & we love the person you are.

You asked for a “big kid” haircut a few weeks ago & we finally made it happen on Saturday. You are so proud of your choice & girl, you woke up for school on Monday ready to rock it. I enjoyed every minute of watching you make a decision for yourself, following through on it & then loving it. There will be people in this life who will not like the decisions you make for yourself, they will question you every step of the way, they will project their own ideas of beauty & what a woman should look like on to you. Do not stop being you, do not place value in who you are on the opinions of others, the length of your hair, the color of your nails, the amount of makeup you do or don’t wear, the weight on the scale or your clothing size.

Today, one of my jobs as your mom is to teach you to fine tune the voice inside of you that says, “I AM BEAUTIFUL. I AM SMART. I AM STRONG. I AM CAPABLE. I AM WORTHY. I LOVE ME FOR THE PERSON GOD MADE ME TO BE.” There will be loud voices in this world shouting at you that these truths are not real or wanting you to change who you are. Ignore them. I promise promise promise, your life will be better for it.

Before the 3 of you came in to this world, I definitely thought I was pretty infallible in the decisions I made for my life. But, there is nothing more humbling than becoming a parent & questioning everything you do for your kids. Every single day brings new decisions, big & small, that need made. And I know there have been times when I’ve talked too much when I should have been listening, I’ve listened too much when I should have given an opinion, I’ve sat back & not taken action, been too swift to action when I should have taken a step back. I am only human & will make more mistakes, but I do work really hard for you, to give you a good & stable life with experiences that will continue to shape & mold you. Have I mentioned yet how much I love you?

When your older brother was a few years old, I read a meme online that said something along the lines of “don’t get so caught up in raising your kids to be great adults that you fail to see they’re already great people today.” You are a fantastic person & I am proud of who you were yesterday, I am proud of who you are today & I will be proud of who you are tomorrow.

I love you & Happy Birthday.

Love, Mama