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DEAR DAUGHTER, I WANT YOU TO MAKE MISTAKES

Dear Daughter,

From the moment I found out I was pregnant with you, my life changed. From that very moment, I knew I loved you more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone.

The day you were born, I remember how your tiny fingers grasped onto mine and held on tight, the way you smelled, the way that I believed that every single part of you was perfect.

The truth is, dear daughter, no one is truly perfect.

We all make mistakes.

I have, your father has, and you most certainly will too.

The truth is sweet daughter, I want you to make mistakes.

That’s right sweet pea, you read that right.

I fully desire for you to make mistakes.

Why?

Because there are some mistakes that are better made when you are a child rather than an adult.

I want you to misspend your allowance. I want you to overspend on something that you will discover you truly didn’t need.

Why?

Because that will better teach you the importance of money than anything else.

It will teach you to budget your money and save it for the important things, rather than squandering it away on instant gratification.

I want you to put your favorite white shirt in the laundry with your bright red hoodie.

Why?

Because this will teach you important life skills that will prepare you for adulthood.

It will teach you that reading the labels and following the instructions can help.

I want you to make mistakes while doing your daily chores so that you know that not paying attention to detail and rushing through things to go do something you enjoy more, will only set you back.

It will teach you that taking your time and doing things correctly actually gets the job done faster.

Dear Daughter, I want you to make these mistakes while you are still under the protection of my roof.

I want you to learn these things through experience before you set off on your own in this big scary world.

While there will still be mistakes you make as an adult, I want to prepare you the best I can. The only way to do that is to allow you to make mistakes.

If sometimes you wonder why I have allowed you to fail, without jumping in to save the day, it isn’t because I don’t care. In fact, it is quite the opposite dear daughter.

It is because I care, a whole lot.

Love,

Mom

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Sarah Letendre

Tuesday 6th of August 2019

oh how I love this ! its about learning ! try new things , experience stuff !! learn from mistakes

Elizabeth Matthiesen

Tuesday 30th of July 2019

A lovely post and it is very true that people learn from their mistakes.

Angie Andrews

Tuesday 30th of July 2019

Great post, I truly feel that we as parents need to allow our children to make mistakes, so many lessons are learned by things that can go wrong. While they are young we are there to guide them and teach them how to handle those mistakes