Emily Memerritt:Hot Templates
Studio Basic and Amy Wolff: Think Happy
Valorie Wibbens: Happy Thoughts
Little Butterfly Wings: Wake Up and Be Awesome Alpha
Allison Pennington: Paper Mail Post Script Papers
Heather Joyce: The Megan
I can finally call you a big girl because you’re all of 7 years old this year. Watching you grow has been the greatest part of the journey I call motherhood. Each year of your life has brought new milestones and experiences; transforming you into the little girl you are today. You have a good heart, good attitude and good personality and that’s what makes you so lovable and likable. And I know I’m not the one who thinks that way. The milestones from here are less defined. There are no checklists. It’s no longer about knowing how to walk, but where to walk. Someday, you will sit in class and your teacher will introduce you to Robert Frost’s poem about two roads diverging in a yellow wood. Your teacher will tell you that what Frost wrote is true. Our choices matter. You will think you understand. It will be my job to tell you that Frost was writing about the best case scenario. Life’s intersections are rarely simple forks in the road with two defined choices. Life’s intersections are crowded and the road less travelled is overgrown and easy to miss. Choices don’t announce themselves. Defining moments camouflage themselves in our daily routine. Seemingly small choices are turns: to smile or not, to speak or stay silent, to stay within or stray from your comfort zone, today or tomorrow. It’s no longer about knowing how to talk, but which words to use. Words have power and must be used wisely. They have the power to hurt and the power to heal, although those powers are not equal. The hurt caused by words is rarely able to be healed by words. Even sincere apologies can’t fully erase the damage. The best an apology can do is ice the swelling. Apologizing for hurtful words is like painting over graffiti. The new paint never quite matches the original color; the shadow of the vandalism remains. There are so many milestones to come: wisdom, courage, discernment and more. None of these have clear metrics to let you know when you’ve arrived. But, you will make progress if you practice. Like a baby taking ten seconds to tip over instead of four, you will slowly learn. You will learn which battles are worth fighting and which are best served by pacifism. You will learn which risks are likely to yield rewards and which are simply an excuse for an adrenaline rush. You will learn so much in the years to come. Trial and error will be your greatest teacher. You will be bruised. You will be scrapped. You will get bumps that swell to an alarming size. That’s part of the growing. Skinned knees mean you’re doing it right.
