Unashamedly inspired by Tina Fey’s prayer for her daughter. She did it better.
***
A quick, quiet prayer to whoever may be in charge, regarding my sweet, fairy daughter. If it be within the keeping of your (admittedly skewed) sense of humor…
May my darling little girl always keep her uniqueness, her sweetness, her sense of humor. She may need it.
May she know that, no matter what, she is loved by a great deal of people; and will undoubtedly be loved by many, many more people over her lifetime. And if everyone else seems to have failed; I hope she will know that she always, always has me.
Allow her to be teased, bullied and left out, but only once or twice; just enough to grant her empathy and convince her never to hurt someone else like that. When it happens, may she have enough of those people who love her unconditionally around to break the humiliating impact.
May she feel the simple platonic pleasure of being mates with members of the opposite sex. Let her know, every know and then, how it feels to be ‘one of the boys’, so she might respect them and demand the same in return.
Let her know herself enough that she is able to find interest and hobbies she is passionate in. Let her know, through some divine intervention, that high school, homework and final exams are not the end of the world- six months after her eighteenth birthday they will probably seem insignificant, anyway.
May she be at ease with her body, know herself and how she works; and never think of herself as shameful or dirty or unpleasant. Allow her to know the decadence of food, untainted and untouched by belief her body is not perfect as it has been made.
May she fall in love, hard and fast and blissfully, at least twice. And may the first time break her heart, shatter it to pieces… much as that hurts to ask for. But allow her that so that, the second time, she appreciates and understands what it is to love someone and be loved in return.
Give her the ability to appreciate simple pleasures that come with being female. Allow her to feel the simple fancies of lipstick and high heels, having her hair done and dancing, dressing beautifully and batting her eyelids. Let her enjoy the ripe pleasure of sex. But give her control over herself, and make her at least a little aware of how awesome she is, so she avoids doing the same silly things that I did.
May she be blessed with children, should she want them. May the conception be without the heartbreak of infertility, and childbirth as fast and pleasant as her own entry into the world was.
Give her the blessing of female friendships, of sleep-overs and coffees and play dates- give her sisters in other women that she will not have by blood.
Let her work hard enough that she knows what hard work is; but never to, nor for, desperation. May she find a job where every day is an adventure, where her mind feels stretched and her comfort zones questioned.
Let her live, completely and fully- taste things, feel things, smell things, see things. May her life be peppered with experiences, with happiness and sadness and realities and laughter. If she is afraid then allow her the strength to see through that and do the things she wants to do anyway. May she see every day as something new, every road as a possibility.
And when things do go wrong- when she loses her favorite toy; when she misses out on something she really wanted; when her best friend hangs out with someone else; when that first love breaks her heart or the pregnancy test comes back positive; or her own daughter won’t stop screaming at her for something undetermined…
May she known that I have been there, done that; and even if she never, ever wants to admit it, I kind of understand. And may she not hesitate to come to me. Without guilt or fear of judgement, though no doubt she will have them.
But may she know that whatever she confesses to, whatever the problem may be; I will always, always love her, and never turn away.
And may she know that’s because she’s beautiful, inside and out. And even if she wasn’t, I hope she knows that I would still be there, anyway. Because that just what mothers are for.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Lori,
I know you don’t scrapbook, but please do her a favour… Hand write that, put it in a card. Seal the card and put it in your box – the one in the cupboard. When she is older, even after having read this post, or had you say it to her time and time again over the years. Trust me, she will appreciate it, nay treasure it… she will indeed treasure it.
X rah rah
spagsy recently posted…What’s in a name? (A rose by any other name)
Yes, yes, yes! You have made me cry…again.
Kylie recently posted…Miss Peregrine’s Home for Perculiar Children
Stunning writing. Just beautiful.
Beautiful.
Lori – that’s beautiful. So beautiful.
I hope she receives all these wonderful things you pray for her too
Beautiful post!
Kimmy xox
…and may she read this one day and be reaffirmed of just how much her mum loves her.
Hello, Lori!
Forgive me for being gone for so long. I’ve been completely overrun by life, and working on a book series that should be ready for publishing, at least one book, by October of this year. I have seventeen books so far with no end in sight.
I recently rediscovered Twitter and now have many writer and author friends there. And I saw this post and wanted to check in with you. I like what you’ve done with your page. And this post is one of my absolute favorites! I totally agree with everything you said, and I think your daughter is going to turn out wonderfully and beautiful, just like you!
Have a great day!
Shellye H. Townsend! recently posted…January Events and Happenings!