Raising A Daughter

When it comes to raising a daughter where do I begin? I want my daughter to have everything in life, but there are a few things which I consider most important. I want to her to know that she is loved, unconditionally, so not a day goes by that I forget to say those 3 little words. I want her to have confidence in her abilities and have good self esteem. I praise the good she does and tell her she is beautiful everyday. I want her to know that I will stand with her with all that life may throw at her. She's mine and I want her to truly know that she can come to me with everything. She is more important than having a perfect house, so today I will push aside the mess of toys and have a tea party in the middle of the floor anyway. And when I reluctantly think that someday she will be grown and out of my house, there is one final lesson that I want her to have down. I want her to marry someone great, not just good enough. Someone who exceeds all her expectations. So we buy her flowers sometimes as her reward for whatever it may be that week. I want her to expect treatment like that. Flowers are a great gift, but I want her to expect that from someone she's dating. I want her to think...flowers are nice, but I get them all the time. The reason? I will not have her fall for some guy because he buys her the right things, I want her to see past gifts like flowers so she won't get too easily swept off her feet. I want her to be able to appreciate the person's tokens of love but not get overly excited so that she may see the real person behind the flowers. I want her to find the right person because gifts are just things, and they mean nothing if the wrong guy is behind them. I truly believe that if we raise our daughters to feel loved, pretty, confident, important, protected, and appreciated they will always expect that. They will demand those things because they will know they are worth it and they will attract the right kind of people to date. She may only be 3 today, but my husband and I are helping her build the foundation for the rest of her life.

Love Really is All Around

If you want to see that true love exists in today's busy and crazy world you don't have to look very far. It is easy to forget that marriages can last and more than that...some people actually do stay in love throughout their marriage. I love watching elderly couples. I like to see how they interact with each other because I feel we have a lot to learn from them. They often know the secret to making a marriage work. Here are a few things I have seen in the last few weeks.

I was at Costco with my kids. After shopping we stopped to eat hot dogs. I noticed an elderly couple walking out together. The husband was pushing the cart. There were only 2 things in the cart: Depends and 2 dozen roses. So cute! He still buys her flowers!

I was at Applebee's with the family one night. There was an elderly couple in the booth behind us. Their waiter asked if they were out to eat for a special occasion. The wife replied, "We are celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary." Wow, 60 years! I had to ask them what they believed the secret to their success was, and they said "Service".

On July 3 I was in Sandy for a neighborhood parade and BBQ. I saw the smallest of gestures that touched my heart. An older woman's glasses had slipped down her nose. Her husband pushed the glasses back up on his wife's nose.

I know these are simple things, but it's through these simple things that we can achieve a happy and successful marriage. I believe that we can keep the romance going, true love alive, and beat the dismal divorce statistics if we continue to serve our spouses in simple ways on a daily basis. Through acts of kindness, kind words are then spoken, and small gifts are given to show our love. When we act lovingly we want to spend time together which will remind us of why we love our spouse. When you know you love your spouse you will want to be affectionate. And that's how I think we make it to 60 years and beyond.