Dear Mom,

I know you are infuriated with me right now, but I have a few things to say to you to try and make it better. Fighting with you upsets me just as much as it upsets you. I hate seeing you mad because you really are my best friend and I would do anything to see you happy.

I know you think that I do not appreciate everything that you do for me, but I want to take this opportunity to thank you for giving me the world, since I do not do it enough.

Thank you for changing my diaper when the only thing you wanted to do was sleep. Thank you for not giving up on me when I went through the terrible twos. Thank you for taking me into preschool on my first day, second, and every one after that until I stopped crying. Thank you for signing me up for every youth sport under the sun. Thank you for going to those games even though I preferred to pick the grass instead of play. Thank you for buying me the coolest backpack and lunchbox combo the first grade ever saw. Thank you for always taking pictures even though I hated the camera. Thank you for buying me a hamster even though you hated rodents. Thank you for making me do my summer reading.

Thank you for explaining puberty even though I ran away crying. Thank you for convincing me that my braces weren’t that ugly. Thank you for giving me a curfew, even though I did not appreciate it at the time. Thank you for telling me that my eighth grade boyfriend wasn’t the guy for me. Thank you for buying me the sneakers I wanted and never wore. Thank you for still putting out cookies for Santa when you had only teenagers in the house. Thank you for pushing me to get a summer job. Thank you for teaching me how to drive, even though it caused a few gray hairs. Thank you for taking me on every college tour and buying me a t-shirt after. Thank you for cheering loudly when they announced my name at graduation. Thank you for having the courage to leave me at school that first night of freshman year. Thank you for always being there to answer my phone calls. Thank you for everything you do for me.

I hope you realize now that all of your effort has not gone unnoticed. You really do mean the world to me even though I do not say it enough.

I love you, and I hope this fight will not last much longer.

Your Daughter