Parenting: a note to my kids

            To my children

I think about you often. I don’t have you yet, but to me, you are everything. You’re the reason I get up in the morning, the reason I’m doing all I can to be ready to raise you up to all you can become. I am your mother, your protector, your confidant, and friend. I will be there for you to pick you up when you fall, to wipe your tears when you cry, and hold you when you are scared.

I love you and I always will.

            Our home will be a place of safety, and refuge from the world around you. We’re going to be a council, that means everyone in our home has a say and each person’s thoughts are valued. Your dad and I will lead and guide each of you and help you in every way we can.

            When you make mistakes or do something wrong, I won’t yell at you or make you feel small. We’ll look at the problem together to see why it was wrong and how we could do better.

I’m setting goals and learning what kind of mom I want to be, so when I have you, you’ll be able to rely on me.

            I often picture our home and it’s full to the brim with our lives. I’ll be the first to get up in the morning, we’ll each get ready for our day then have breakfast together before we go to our different activities. Your dad or I will take you to school. I take care to clean our house and make it a place where everyone feels welcomed and loved. When you come home from school I’ll have snacks for you. We’ll have fruits and vegetables, I’ll give you special treats occasionally, just know I’ll feed you food that is going to help you grow healthy and strong. Together we’ll work on your homework, if we can’t figure it out together we’ll find a tutor to help us out. Our family likes to read, and we take time to do so. The books on our shelves have been loved, some pages have been colored on, but we know the stories and we often tell them to each other. My music will often fill our home, you’ll learn the words to some of my favorite songs and one day, even find some of your own tunes.

            Your dad and I are a team. You will often see us together at the dinner table going over our budget to see how we can best use our means to support our family. We love each other, and you’ll often see us conversing together, always improving and working towards the goals that we have as parents.

            We’re a religious family. I think the most important lesson you can gain from our home is that you are a child of God and he loves you very much.

            There’s a poem I found when I was younger and I’ll read it to you one day. It starts at the home, the path is strewn with lavender bushes, there are kittens playing in the yard and you can see the sun as it goes down. Inside, the walls are covered with photos of us. The kids are each asleep in their beds. The house creaks a lullaby as mom and dad sit close together by the fireplace, reminiscing about their day.

            One day we’ll meet and I’m going to do all I can to help you become who you were meant to be. Overall just know that I love you, more than you know. For now, I’m learning all I can to be a good mom.