We all have influence, no matter our age. You may think you have no influence, or you don’t matter, but you do! You changed the world by just being born, and every day of your life, you matter! You bring a light to this world that was not present on this earth until you were born. That presence matters to the people around you!
Your parents think that everything you do is amazing! Your parents think anything you make is awesome just because YOU did it. They are just proud of you because of who you are. You could scribble on paper, and we would think it belongs in the Smithsonian! Your singing voice is pure perfection, and you could draw in audiences worldwide! You are smarter than Einstein and prettier than any model!
You can do hard things. I know you may not want to, and you may want to quit, but there is something to be said about “finishing it”. Life is made up of hard things. Take each “hard thing” as it comes, and look behind you, because your parents have your back.
You do not have to have it all figured out. You are still learning. Part of life is realizing that you will get knocked “on your duff” and then learning how to get back up again.
Boast in your weakness! Learn to laugh at yourself. “Own it” when you mess up! When you admit failure, you make yourself vulnerable, and when you make yourself vulnerable, you are actually drawing people to you. Those people just discovered that they can be vulnerable around you, and you won’t make fun of them when they fail.
Be authentic. Drop the wall. When you are transparent, you show that you are brave and confident.
Your parents aren’t trying to embarrass you. When your mom walks into your party with a plateful of food, she wants your friends to like her! She wants your friends to feel safe and loved in her home and wants that to reflect back to you! When your dad tells you that friend is “no good”, it’s because he’s trying to protect you from being hurt. He’s not trying to embarrass you by not letting you go out. His ultimate job to protect you.
Your parents have had fear, pain, and other life experiences that they don’t want you to experience. They don’t want you to mess up like they did! When it seems like the rules are set to inconvenience you, remember that your parents love you, and they want to protect you, and the rules are in place to help grow you into responsible humans.
We aren’t trying to be annoying! We want to hear from you. Sometimes, you want to keep your thoughts to yourself. We get that! We’ve been there. We’ve had bad days too. We hear you say your day was “FINE”, but we know you, and we know that the day wasn’t fine. We press you for more than “fine” and you get annoyed! We are just wanting you to open up and let us help you through it. We are here when you are ready to talk… but please don’t take too long. We like to talk to you!
We are going to mess up! Forgive us when we mess up. We’ve never been parents before, and we will lay awake at night thinking of how we could have handled it differently, and worrying that our parenting mistakes are going to “scar you” for life.
Did you know that we have laid awake for hours, thinking about you and why you didn’t want to talk to us about your day…or what happened at school that made you so angry when you got in the car…or should we have said something…or left you alone…or should we have pressed you more…or is that friend “bad news”…BASICALLY QUESTIONING EVERYTHING! Your parents love you so much and only want the best for you! If we can fix it, we will! Let us help! It makes us feel like we are good parents!
You will only learn if you have a teachable spirit. If you walk into church or the classroom with an attitude of not wanting to be there, then you will never learn. If you walk in with an attitude of wanting to learn and succeed, you will absorb so much! Watch your attitude!
Your parents are proud of you for simply existing! Just be you! We love you for you! We brag about you to our friends! (Even when you were little, we bragged about your poops!)
You can’t do anything wrong that would make us lose that pride! We were proud of you the moment you took your first breath, and we will be proud of you until we take OUR LAST breath.
Cowles Farm 