27 Hopes for My Daughter

I’ll be honest, after having a boy, I was more than okay with the idea of having another boy. Prior to M, I always wanted a boy first and a girl second (looks like that’s working out!) and Hubs and I always joked that we’d have a short nerdy boy and a tall athletic girl. M certainly is a shorty and since he belongs to us, the nerdy part is pretty inevitable. 😉 Whether or not baby girl will be tall and athletic is an unknown. And, it should be noted that athletic is loosely used for our home. Neither of us are into sports, however, Hubs can at least hold a ball without breaking a bone, a skill I have yet to master.

Even still, after having M I realized that boys were kind of easier. In my mind anyway. I remember being a young girl, the drama! The incessant need to constantly wear the right thing, have my hair the right way, say the right thing, and on, and on. I remember even in middle school thinking “If I wore the wrong colored shoe laces, that’s it, I’m a loser.” The stress of being a girl and I feel like it’s even worse now than 20 years ago when I was an adolescent. I read about young girls’ clothes being smaller than they really need to be, the plastering of sexual innuendos on the rear (e.g., Juicy on the bum of a 4 year old’s shorts? Really?), shirts being fitted to create shape in a 6 year old who doesn’t have or need shape. Then as they get older it’s even worse! The cyber bullying is out of control, people think they’re anonymous behind a computer screen, or they say things that they wouldn’t normally say to someone else’s face. Girls can be so mean. And it terrifies me. I can only hope that I instill a sense of confidence in my daughter that she is able to survive the blasted adolescence years. But my hopes go beyond confidence, there are so many things I hope for my daughter.

My Hopes for My Daughter:

1. Talk to me. I promise, if you come to me, I will listen and help. I will not judge, I will (try) not to get angry.
2. Be confident to stand up for yourself.
3. Be confident to stand up for others.
4. Go to someone you trust if you feel like you can’t come to me.
5. Find a good and close group of girlfriends. This can be one person or 10,  as long as they respect you, your choices, and your family.
6. Show respect to others and yourself.
7. Wait on the whole sex thing, any kind of sex. If your love interest can’t wait for you, then they aren’t worth giving it up to.
8. Don’t be afraid to click “DELETE.” Whether it’s Facebook or something else by then, it’s okay to click delete and “unfriend” someone who isn’t a friend.
9. Have some modesty. Your body is your’s and only your’s. Leave something for the imagination and it shows you respect yourself.
10. Be kind to others, be kind to yourself.
11. Study hard, get good grades. But it’s okay to fail every now and again too. It’s how we learn.
12. Cry. If you need to, go ahead and cry.
13. Wear pink, if you want to wear pink. Wear blue, if you want to wear blue. Wear what suits you (as long as your doing that modesty thing we talked about in #10).
14. Apologize when you do something wrong.
15. Say please, thank you, excuse me. Manners in general go a long way in this world.
16. Don’t be sorry for things you didn’t do wrong.
17. Be healthy, make healthy choices.
18. Have a sense of humor and don’t be afraid to show your quirky side. Be you.
19. Do what you love.
20. Believe in something, whether it’s God or Buddah or something else, find something to put your faith into.
21. Be accepting of others and our differences. Embrace the differences of others.
22. Always do your best.
23. Learn from your mistakes.
24. Make good choices.
25. Smile and laugh.
26. Find someone worthy of your love.
27. Always know that we love you, no matter what, nothing in this world could ever change how we feel for you.

Don’t worry, I have a similar post for my son too, from my early blogging days!

What hopes do you have for your kids?