Dear Mom and Dad,
First and foremost let me start with an apology. I know that I wasn’t always the easiest of children to deal with; must we be reminded of those dreadful teenage years?! At that time in my life, I thought your parenting decisions were unreasonable, irrational, and unfair...so basically, in the mind of a 14 year old…the absolute worst. This was obviously due to the fact that my super mature teenage know-it-all self, knew exactly what being a parent meant. As I sit and reflect back on those years, I realize that I was the one being unreasonable, irrational and unfair. You both were doing your absolute best to ensure that you were raising kids that would one day grow up to be well-rounded adults. It wasn’t until becoming a parent myself, that I understood how challenging parenting is…and I’m doing it with one kid…you guys did it with three!
So, with all that said, what I really want to tell you is, thank you. Thank you for making the choices you did when raising us, especially the ones that I’m sure weren’t easy on you. Since becoming a mom, I’ve really started to think about the ways you both have helped shape me into the person I am, as well as the parent I strive to be. Growing up, you set and enforced boundaries and expectations for us at a young age. We were told no just as often as we were told yes. Chores were a weekly occurrence. We had rules, curfews, and responsibilities. Sure, I dreaded having to clean my room and bathroom every Saturday morning and hated being told no, what kid doesn’t, but it was in those scenarios that hundreds of mini lessons were occurring. While I didn’t understand it then, I understand now the parenting path you carved when raising us kids allowed us to learn valuable life lessons. You taught us about motivation and how to achieve our goals by working hard. You taught us life isn’t always going to give us what we want but more importantly, how to handle it when it doesn’t. But the greatest lesson you taught us was how to be better humans. With all that’s going on in the world, I am so grateful to have grown up with parents that set forth strong examples of love and acceptance for all. You provided us the opportunity to sculpt our own opinions while ensuring we maintained an open-mind. It is these exact life lessons that I aim to instill in my own children.
So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I can only hope to become half the parents that you are.
Love Always,
Your Dearest Daughter
