My Daughter Is All The Things I Want To Be When I Grow Up

I think we all know deep down what our character flaws are. We also know the things that we wish we could be or that we aspire to be- oftentimes, without success. There are things I have tried to be my whole life but have never been able to make it happen. I have always wished I were more patient and less cynical. I wish I gave the benefit of the doubt more easily and forgave people more quickly. Alas, that is not the kind of person I am at my core. I am stubborn but loyal. I am impatient, but generous. One you lose my trust, it is hard to gain it back and I am not always quick to see the best in people. I wish this weren’t the case.

I am happy and proud to say that my daughter is all the things I want to be when I grow up and I truly think the universe sent her to teach me how to be a better human. Not only is she patient, kind and sweet- she also sees only the good in people and is deeply confused by the bad. Her heart is so pure and even as she gets older I don’t see that changing very much. She effortlessly moves from one group of friends to another and her peers clamor to hang out with her and sit by her. She is truly the nicest human being I have ever known and I am in literal awe of her every day. She is not like a typical second grader- she does not tally slights, she does not fight to have the best of everything. She is generous and gives whatever she has to her little brother. If there are two cookies and one is broken, she takes the broken one, without question.

I am not telling you all of this to brag and pat myself on the back for raising her- I can’t take credit. She is not much like myself or my husband and was truly born this way. I can remember marveling at how gentle she was with our dog when she was seven months old and crawling. She never tugged at him, petted him so gently, when most babies would be a bit more….violent. I have video of her and her brother when she was barely two and she routinely dropped whatever she was doing if he cried- bringing him toys, helping him find the ball that rolled under the couch, whatever. Even now, she sits with him for hours helping him learn to read and teaching him his numbers. Her patience is truly a sight to behold. Her heart is always in the right place and it is no effort for her at all to help other people and make sure they are happy.

Of course, she has flaws- all human beings do. She has a flair for the dramatic, she panics over a teeny paper cut and she is an unrelenting perfectionist. She can be obnoxiously competitive and is a bit of a sore loser. She is not an angel or a saint but she is still everything I aspire to be. I swear on all that is holy, this child has made me a better person. Seeing how she considers people- how she gives them a chance, no matter what, has inspired me to do the same. I hope her kind heart influences others like it has me. I think the world can always use a force of good and to me, goodness, thy name is Claire. I am so proud to be her mother and always will be.

(Image: BlueOrange Studio/Shutterstock)