Dear future son or daughter,

I want you to know that I will always be here for you. I want to be able to come to me for anything and everything. I want you to live a full life of happiness. I want you to reach beyond that stars to achieve all your dreams and goals. There are so many things I already want for you and you haven’t even been brought into my life yet. But there are some very important things I want you to always remember from the hardest days to the easiest days, just always remember this.

1. Be Brave.

Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind and let your ideas and thoughts be known. Don’t be afraid to make new friends, don’t be afraid to step out on a stage for a performance or speech. “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.”

2. Take the time to enjoy your childhood.

One day, you will grow up. You will be getting ready for your first day at your first real job and I will be so proud of you, and I will probably be brought back to the day you took your first steps and the day you rode your first bike; I may miss the days when you were small enough to fit in my arms, but I will be looking forward to being a part of all the wonderful things you will accomplish in this world. There will be a day, maybe in your senior year of high school or your first day of college where you will look back and miss being six-years-old without a care in the world. So take the time to soak up all the memories and moments that make your heart smile; Don’t grow up faster than you have to.

3. Stand up for what you believe in.

Your opinion matters, your thoughts matter. There will always be someone in your life who won’t agree with you, and that’s okay. It’s okay to agree to disagree; However, there will also be those few who try to put you down for thinking/believing the way you do, and that is NOT okay. Your thoughts matter, your opinions matter. You want to grow up to be an astronaut?! GREAT! I will believe whole-heartedly that you can do anything you set your mind to. I will support you and back you up for as long as I can, but you must remember to stand up for yourself too. Because you matter.

4. You could never do anything to make me stop loving you.

You are going to make mistakes, you are going to do things that you know who shouldn’t and you will do them anyway. I want you to make mistakes, that’s how you will learn. Don’t be afraid to come to me when you do mess up. Don’t be afraid to talk to me when you don’t know what to do next. You will make me mad, you will make me cry, and sometimes you may even disappoint me. But those will just be moments in a lifetime of other moments. We will move on and I will still love you. We all fail sometimes, but I would rather you try and fail as opposed to not trying and never knowing what could have happened.

5. Don’t let society define you.

Society will tell you that you have to be straight, that you have to be skinny, and if you’re a girl, you should be sensitive, love pink, and must never break a nail. If you’re a boy they will tell you that you throw like a girl (whatever that means), you must never cry, and you must be super into sports and that school doesn’t matter if you’re a good athlete, and apparently you must be super muscular. SCREW SOCIETY. You be you and that’s good enough. Make society accept the real you, don’t change yourself to fit into society. “Let your smile change the world, but don’t let the world change your smile.”

“I love you forever, I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living my baby you’ll be.”

Love,

Mom.