Dear daughter,
Your 16th birthday is looming. In fact, it is only a couple of days away. I have been contemplating a blog for weeks, as a way to send you messages, to send you long letters.
Your first question is probably: Why? Mommy, why would you need to send me messages or write me letters? You live with me, after all. You see me several hours a day, at least, when you get home from work. You can text me; you can tag me on Instagram; you can send me a Snapchat message. Why in the world would you blog at me?
Well, the best way I know to answer that question is to just tell you, I have a lot of things in my heart and in my brain that I want to share with you. The heart->brain->mouth connection doesn't always work that well for me. Sometimes I am embarrassed to come across as too mushy to you. Sometimes I am irritable or tired or angry, and I don't really want to talk, even though there are things to be said. Sometimes I am just shy about communicating my advice, my experience, and (dare I say it?) my wisdom with you. Because, after all, I am a human too that doesn't want to feel rejection.
The simple truth of the matter is, I didn't get a lot of feedback when I was a teenager. I didn't grow up in a household where we talked about deep things very often, or important things, or life lessons. I stumbled around a lot. I made a lot of mistakes, and I figured out a lot of things on my own (which is not always bad, but can sometimes be painful). Generally, I was fine and OK and all that, but I frankly grew up in simpler times. Life was easier to navigate 30 years ago.
One thing that has been revealed to me just in the last two or three years, is that a bit of self-awareness can REALLY make life go a lot smoother. Too much, and it's annoyingly self-involved. But understanding your own self and your motivations and reactions, can really help in many areas of your life. If even just a few things that I share with you, can help you over these next few years as you start to really go into a whole lot of changes, it will be time well spent for me to write it down.
So, buckle up!!! It's birthday countdown -2 days, and the potential topics to discuss are teeming in my noggin! My intent is to write you a letter once or twice a week. It may be something pertinent to what you are going through at that time, or it may just be a general "tidbit". Nothing overwhelming. But things that I want you to know. I hope you read these, and if you want to talk about any of them, I absolutely will. And if you don't, that is OK too.
XXXOOO,
Mommy
Your 16th birthday is looming. In fact, it is only a couple of days away. I have been contemplating a blog for weeks, as a way to send you messages, to send you long letters.
Your first question is probably: Why? Mommy, why would you need to send me messages or write me letters? You live with me, after all. You see me several hours a day, at least, when you get home from work. You can text me; you can tag me on Instagram; you can send me a Snapchat message. Why in the world would you blog at me?
The simple truth of the matter is, I didn't get a lot of feedback when I was a teenager. I didn't grow up in a household where we talked about deep things very often, or important things, or life lessons. I stumbled around a lot. I made a lot of mistakes, and I figured out a lot of things on my own (which is not always bad, but can sometimes be painful). Generally, I was fine and OK and all that, but I frankly grew up in simpler times. Life was easier to navigate 30 years ago.
One thing that has been revealed to me just in the last two or three years, is that a bit of self-awareness can REALLY make life go a lot smoother. Too much, and it's annoyingly self-involved. But understanding your own self and your motivations and reactions, can really help in many areas of your life. If even just a few things that I share with you, can help you over these next few years as you start to really go into a whole lot of changes, it will be time well spent for me to write it down.
So, buckle up!!! It's birthday countdown -2 days, and the potential topics to discuss are teeming in my noggin! My intent is to write you a letter once or twice a week. It may be something pertinent to what you are going through at that time, or it may just be a general "tidbit". Nothing overwhelming. But things that I want you to know. I hope you read these, and if you want to talk about any of them, I absolutely will. And if you don't, that is OK too.
XXXOOO,
Mommy
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