Be the Woman you needed as a Girl

When I saw this shirt on Facebook, I didn't think twice about ordering it. I don't love the thickness or that its a crew neck, BUT I adore the saying - it's my mantra in life. Not to say that I had a horrible childhood or a horrible mother, but I needed more. I longed for more. I needed more open communication. I needed more guidance. I needed more understanding of my feelings and insecurities. I needed more stories of her childhood and what she felt and experienced. 

Did my mother do the best she could? Is she currently doing the best she can (Alzheimer's aside)? Only she can say. 

I know my driving force in life is to be the very best mother I possible can be. For me that means being physically, mentally, spiritually, and cognitively healthy. That means I choose to be physically active so I can (God willing) have a long, healthy life. That means I choose to be actively engaged in activities with the girls (I may not play with my girls but I bring them to activities where they can play). That means I ask questions as I am truly interested in hearing what they have to say. 

Am I perfect? Heavens no. I am reminded often that what I needed as a little girl is not necessarily the same as what my girls need. Thankfully by demonstrating open communication, my girls tell me when they need more. Grace is amazingly aware of her emotions and articulates them in a way that I still can't do and for this I am grateful as it keeps me in check. Sometimes it's like a gut punch. For example, when we picked her up from one of her camps, she said one of the counselors was mean to her. I thought she was being over dramatic and poo-poo'ed her feelings. One of my friend's daughter's was also at the same camp and her daughter said the same, that the counselor was not kind to Grace. Oh my GOD! I had not believed my child! I apologized to Grace and her reply was "When you didn't believe me, I thought will you believe me if a child bully's me'? Oh my sweet baby girl! 

So, needless to say, despite my mantra in life being "Be the Woman you needed as a girl" I still fail. But I keep trying. I will always keep trying. I am confident I am raising amazing little souls who will in return raise even more amazing little souls. So on and so on. 

I leave you with, do something today, anything at all, where you can be the woman you needed as a girl!