I’ll preface this by stating that your overall health and happiness,
which can pretty much cover a broad area, trump everything else for your father and me. That’s right; your acceptance from Princeton
is not the top priority. So, assuming
that you avoid struggling with a serious challenge such as illness, we ask you
to please consider what I’m about to share.
At this moment, you are a headstrong and bossy but thoughtful and
generous four year-old. We’ve tried not
to look ahead too often at the future.
Instead, we take in every moment of your development, and every stage
has offered many wonderful moments.
However, it has become increasingly more difficult to witness the
results of “adult” decisions and not say to ourselves, “Dear Lord, please don’t
let our daughter be that flipping stupid.”
At the very least, we hope the following will spare you from wasted
time, energy and money.
·
Please
refrain from making unnecessary purchases, especially if you also complain
about having limited means.
First, let me say that your
parents do not object to tattoos, piercings, pedicures and the current
technology trend. As you already know,
your father has a tattoo on his arm.
Okay, so, I’d prefer that you refrain
from tattooing or piercing the exposed areas, in particular, of your body, but
that’s a discussion for another day. The
point I’ll make now is that accountability is important. Please try not to spend money
foolishly and whine to people about the inability to afford the necessities. It will make you look like an irresponsible
moron, when you’re homeless and hungry with a piercing on your face and 8
tattoos, unless you’re sharing this information with those who make similar
choices. In that case, you should
question with whom you’re surrounding yourself, but that’s another topic.
·
The high
road is underrated.
You should always,
always know your worth and defend it.
However, it is important to recognize the moments, when we should lean
on a higher power, the universe or whatever to right what is wrong, instead of
trying to take matters into your own hands.
By now, I’m sure
you’ve learned that karma doesn’t come for some people as quickly as you’d prefer. However, sometimes, you have to walk away and
trust that it will come.
There are situations
where it is better to be firm and opt for the high road than lose your temper,
compromise your ethical standards and weaken your level of respectability. Remember that a class act can be a difficult
one to follow, probably even more so when you’re an adult. It’ll be challenging to stick by this but try
to trust your mother on this one.
·
Don’t be
an ignorant voter.
You’ll realize long before
adulthood that your mother detests reality TV.
If you opt to indulge in reality shows, popular culture news and shows
hosted by political satirists, that’s fine.
However, if they are your only sources of information, please don’t fool
yourself into believing that you’re offering a valid opinion about the US and
world events.
Putting aside the reality that
political discussions are rarely appropriate, if you do find a fitting moment,
please make sure to self-educate before sharing an opinion. That goes for every topic, though.
With any luck, you’ll find yourself in
my shoes someday, where you’re constantly faced with people who are obsessed
with reality stars, read crappy books and only listen to one-sided discussions versus
holistic facts, but feel that their opinions about what happens to your tax
dollars are valid. By the time you’re
old enough to vote, hopefully, you also won’t be a single social issue decision
maker.
That’s where I’ll leave it today.
For now, I also should share that at this time in your life, you’re an
expert at dropping in an, “I love you, mommy,” during the perfect moments, when
you sense it may need to be heard. It is
always at the most hectic moment of mommy’s day, when she feels frantic. I hope I’ll be able to identify those moments
for you, someday, and provide you with a similar reality check.
Love Always,
Mommy
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