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MY WISH FOR MY CHILDREN
We tried so very hard to make things better for our
children that I believe we made them worse.
IF I EVER GET MARRIED AND HAVE CHILDREN,
I WOULD LIKE THINGS TO BE BETTER FOR THEM.
I'd really like for them to know about hand-me-down
clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover
meat loaf sandwiches.
I really would!
I hope they learn humility by being humiliated,
and that they learn honesty by being cheated.
I hope they learn to make their own bed and mow
the lawn and wash the car.
And I really hope nobody gives them a brand new
car when they are sixteen.
It will be good if at least one time they can see
puppies born and their old dog put to sleep.
I hope they get a black eye fighting for
something they believe in.
I hope they have to share a bedroom with their
younger brother/sister. And it's all right if they
have to draw a line down the middle of the room,
but when he/she want to crawl under the covers
with them because they are scared, I hope they let him/her.
When they want to see a movie and their little
brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope they'll let
him/her.
I hope they have to walk uphill to school with
their friends and that they live in a town where they
can do it safely.
On rainy days when they have to catch a ride, I
hope they don't ask their driver to drop them two
blocks away so they won't be seen riding with
someone as uncool as their parents.
If they want a slingshot, I hope their Dad teaches
them how to make one instead of buying one.
I hope they learn to dig in the dirt and read
books.
I hope they learn to add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers
in their head before they learn how to use computers.
I hope they get teased by their friends when they
have their first crush on a boy/girl.
And when they talk back to their
parents, that they learn what ivory soap tastes like.
May they skin their knee climbing a mountain, burn
their hand on a stove and stick their tongue on a
frozen flagpole.
I don't care if they try a beer once, but I hope
they don't like it. And if a friend offers them drugs
or controlled substance, I hope
they realize he/she is not their friend.
I sure hope they make time to sit on a porch with
their Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing or go out with their Uncle.
May they feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during
the holidays.
I hope their parents punish them when they throw a
baseball through their neighbor's window and that
their parents hugs them and kisses
them at Christmas time and when they give them a
plaster mold of their hand.
These things I wish for them: tough times and
disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's
the only way to appreciate life.
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