To Papaw for his 80th Birthday

Dear Papaw,

I have been thinking of writing you this letter for months. I really wanted the perfect words to share with you my perspective, but felt overwhelmed by the magnitude of the thanks I am wanting to offer you in this letter. I hope my words do enough to convey this to you.

The realization I had about you, your life, your success, and your learning disability have only come in my adulthood. As the parent of a child with dyslexia and the identification of my own dyslexia in adulthood, I am filled with gratitude for the path you took in your life. I have a feeling, knowing how hard you are on yourself, that you are confused by my proclamation of gratitude. Please give me a moment to explain how I see your choices in life impacting every generation to come after you in our family tree.

The last time I got to sit and listen to you tell the stories that make up your life, I heard some familiar ones and some new ones. I heard about your first experience when you tried to start college, your path home after, and your restart into college the next year. It was after this conversation that I was struck. I was struck that you very easily could have come home after your first start and stayed forever and been pretty happy on the farm. No one would have faulted the guy that struggled so significantly in school, if he had decided to stay on the farm that he loved and had worked hard to carve out a life from himself. You love the farm. You struggled in school. It would have been an easy path to stop there and live a long life right where you started. What is so amazing, and what I am so grateful for is, you didn't do that. You didn't take the easy way. You went to school. You became educated. You overcame many obstacles to not only earn a bachelors degree, but also a master's and doctorate. You have had an extremely successful career as an educator, becoming one of the most respected professionals in your field. You built a life and never took the easy way out.

From my perspective, the decision to stay is school is your legacy. I'm pretty sure, in all these years, it has never occurred to you the impact that your life decisions have had on your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren, and every generation that will come after you in the future. Your legacy is an impressive one. With your decision to stick with school and overcome your learning disability, you have impacted the paths of those of us that have come after you. By not going home and staying home after your first attempt at college, you made it so all of us would do the same with the goals that we set for ourselves. There is never a question, no matter what, in this family we don't give up.

Your life could have been a good life without a college degree. It's not the college degree that makes me proud to be your granddaughter. It's the hard working spirit, the dedication to a goal, the perseverance, the willingness to take the tougher road to overcome difficult obstacles that make me proud. So, yes, you could have lived a good life without the degrees and still given me much to be proud of. I know that I would've still learned many lessons about this very things from you had you not gone to college. However, you chose to be great, not just good enough. You chose to take the hard road when the easy one could have been a rich and full life too. By doing that, by taking that difficult path, you set up every generation after you to become great as well.

This is my way of sharing my heartfelt thank you to you. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for never giving up. Thank you for showing me with your actions that we are all capable. Thank you for showing me that the road less traveled can lead to great things.

I love you.

Much love,
Taylor

P.S. It goes without saying that much of your greatness comes from the influence of a great partner. Your marriage and partnership with Mamaw has had as much of an impact on my life as your decision to prioritize your education. I don't have to tell you how much credit Mams deserves in all of this greatness. I couldn't write this whole letter without mentioning her impact...but I think the amazing things she has done in her own legacy will take an entirely different letter. :)

The letter I didn't think I'd ever be ready to write

Dear Julianna,

So, your visit to kindergarten passed and I didn't write a letter. Then you preschool recognition happened and I still didn't write a letter. Then your last day of preschool happened and still no letter. I want you to know that it's not because you're the youngest and it's not because I didn't have anything to say or that I forgot about the Kindergarten Visit Letter. I thought about the blog and the letter I wanted to write to you on every day that has passed for the last month. I didn't sit down and write it because I just had too much to say and too many thoughts to try and put it into a letter to my little girl. My littlest girl that isn't so little any more and by the time you read this you will probably be a very grown up girl, indeed. So I'm not making excuses. I just wanted to let you know that this letter is hard to write and terribly difficult to think about.

I know you know this, but on the day that you were born, you didn't cry. Not once. When they put you on my chest when you were very first born you just laid their looking around not making a peep. That moment kind of freaked me out, as the only other babies I had witnessed the births of were your brother and sister. And they certainly let their presence known upon arrival. I was so worried that I asked them to check to see if you were breathing. You were. I can still see the nurse standing there and assuring me that you were fine, perfect even. She was sure that it was just your temperament. You were going to be an easy-going person. She was correct. You arrived sweet and easy-going and you have stayed just that way. I have never met anyone like you and I love that story so much because it perfectly captures your spirit and who you are way down deep.

The whole first day and night after you were born there were no tears. The closest you came to unhappy was when you would get hungry you would meow at me that you were ready to eat. You are still that way on most days. You love to be with people and make friends easily. You are willing to change a plan or adjust what you want if it doesn't work for everyone. I'm not sure where that came from because all that niceness doesn't make you a pushover. You like for people to get along and be happy when they are around you, but you don't let them boss you around. Most of the time you will stand up for yourself and not let anyone push you around. What an amazing combination of traits to have at five years old! I can't believe how lucky Dad and I are to be your parents. You make our job really easy most of the time.

Julianna, as far as kindergarten goes, you are more than ready. You've been ready for awhile. I'm trying to get myself ready too. I'll get there soon enough, but right now I just can't believe we are here with you. We are at the moment where you spread your wings and start to really develop outside of our home. You are leaving my bubble now and it's hard to see you go. I have no doubt you are going to have an amazing time at school and with your friends. I have no doubt that your little mind is going to expand and grow and learn all sorts of wonderful things. You are ready to forge ahead and I will do exactly what I'm supposed to do. I will cheer and celebrate and support and love you. I will do everything I can to be the mom that you so deserve in this next chapter of your life. You are ready.

I love you so much that words and letters and clichés will never be enough to tell you just how much love I have for you. You are your own amazing person who is true to yourself on every level. I hope that your one-of-a-kind spirit continues as you grow. I hope that when you go out there into the world that you know that you are loved and always have a safe place to c

ome home to.

I love you more than a hotel (as you told me today),
Mom

 

Drew's first day of first grade letter

Dear Drew,

First grade! What are you thinking getting so old that you have to go to first grade!? I'm not ready! You are ready, though. Well..... all summer you said you didn't want to go to school anymore - to please not sign you up to go again this year. But then you met your teacher. All bets were off after that and you were dying to get to the first day. And you loved every minute of it. I'm so glad!

These are a few of the things you shared after school today:

1. We made this special juice that is supposed to help you not be nervous. The only time I was nervous all day was when I thought I might not like that juice. But I did! And I have the ingredients, Dad! So we can make some.
2. I am keeping my folder in my bag and my teacher said that every time we bring our folder back in our bag to school we will get a sticker on it. There was one boy last year that go so many stickers that it covered the whole outside and they had to start putting them on the inside. I think I'm going to get that many stickers too. I remember last year that I took my folder every day so I think I can probably do that again this year.
3. I played with Jaron and recess. And a little bit with Carter and Mitch. (Was it good to see them? Did they have a good summer?) Yes. They all looked so different! Everyone looked so different. And Jaron has gotten way taller this year. Last year he could walk under the slide like this (you hunched over), but this year he can't even do that! He's gotten so tall! (Oh, is he taller than you now?) Well, no.
4. To Lily: You like learning at school?! Like reading and science and all that stuff? Like LEARNING?! I just like recess and when we watch movies or something. Mostly just recess.
5. I missed you, Mommy. Can we do the kissing hand tomorrow? We read about the kissing hand at school and did you know that it doesn't even wash off with soap? We didn't do it today so I just kissed my own hand and then put it on my cheek.

Drew, you should know that Julianna missed you desperately. She talked a lot about you and how much she missed you. You are a great brother and it shows because your sister loves you very much.

Like I told Lily in her letter, I'm not going to get mushy on you. I just want you to know that you are awesome. You are going to have a great year and I am so looking forward to your confidence growing this year as you see all that you can learn. I hope this year you notice that learning can be fun and you don't have to be perfect. I hope that you know that it's okay to be yourself because you are awesome just the way your are. It requires no showing off to make people like you. Promise. You are totally cool, dude.

I love you.
Love,
Mommy

Lily's first day of third grade letter

Dear Lily,

First of all, I have to tell you, it was impossible to narrow down my favorite first day or school picture of you so I had to post them all. You are adorable. And old. And grown up. And occasionally funny. Your morning started rough, but ended on a high note. You were ready to get started on your new adventure.

When you came home from school I asked about your day. Here are some things that you told me:

1. Recess was not fun. No one wanted to play. They mostly just stood around and tried to act like third graders.
2. What is a state that has mountains? And a volcano? And grows apples? And has three syllables. I'm supposed to find out the answer for school tomorrow. (I gave you the correct answer but either you wanted an excuse to get on the internet or you just didn't believe me because you confirmed it with Dad when he got home. It's Washington. I promise.)
3. My teacher has been teaching for 21 years and she used to teach at another school before she taught at mine and this one time a man called and said there was a bomb in the school and so there was a lockdown. But that's the only lockdown that's ever happened to her and it was a false alarm and the guy went to jail and the kids just hid in a closet for a couple hours. (You talked just like that....run-on sentences and all.)
4. We're supposed to bring show and tell. It's supposed to fit into this bag (you hold up a very small paper sack). I think my microscope will fit in this, don't you? (No.) Well, I think I'm going to fill it with like 14 little things and then have a guessing game and then people can guess what I have in my bag. I can just cover it in tissue paper so no one can see inside. I'll ask if I can make it a little game. What do I have that is small enough to put in the bag? (Maybe one of your fossils?) No, I've done that already. (Maybe one of your bones?) Oh, yeah! Good idea! Wait....how will I get them out? (I'm still unsure if you were joking when you said that.)
5. I do not like recess.

Usually my back to school letters are mushy, gushy things. But tonight I just want to remember how awesome you were on this day. It was nice to have a place to send you today so that I could truly enjoy the things that you told me today. I really, really enjoyed being with you this afternoon. I have to say, the last week of summer my patience was thin and I wasn't so nice that last couple of days. It was good that you went to school, had a great day, and I love that you shared so much about your day with me. I'm going to bed tonight feeling grateful to have you around. Grateful that you are growing up to be so awesome. And confident that you're going to have an excellent year.

I love you.
Love,
Mom

On the 100th Day of School

Today on the 100th day of school, my children had the perfect morning. They got dressed, ate breakfast, and had hair and teeth brushed with no problem. It was a lovely morning. I thought that since the 100th day is a day to celebrate, I would give a report on how things are going at school.

Lily hasn't missed a day of school. She has worked hard this year to make good choices at school. She recently went through a medication change and tried her darnedest to do well at school without it. She gave a valiant effort, but in the end we saw that she was truly benefitting from the medications. She did get a new one and it's working.

I heard from Lily's teacher a few days ago that Lily is doing very well at school. Lily's teacher is proud of Lily's improvement when it comes to working in groups. She told me that she usually puts Lily in pairs to work so that she doesn't become overwhelmed. However, last week Lily worked seamlessly in a group of FIVE students. She was a member of the team, she allowed others to contribute, and at one point they were all drawing on the paper at once. I am so proud of her!

Drew has also not missed a day of school. He loves it so much and loves having so many friends to play with everyday. He has recently started reading books independently, and asking for more at his level. This is a huge deal because early in the year I could  barely get him to read the required 3 page books sent from school. At first I thought maybe he was having trouble because of an inherited learning disability; but I think he was actually having trouble because of an inherited eye problem. He has been doing eye therapy for two months and the change is amazing. Obviously, because he loves to read by himself now. :)

Yesterday, on day 99, Drew lost his first tooth. He was so proud that he had pulled out himself at rest time. He said all the kids wanted to come and see the tooth after he'd pulled it out. I don't know what the chances are, but so far two of my children have lost their first tooth in Mrs. Law's kindergarten class instead of at home. He was excited to put the tooth under his pillow and wake up to some shiny quarters.

Julianna has not gone to school 100 days, but she is doing wonderfully and loves school. She is keeping me laughing and testing her limits just a bit. I love being home with her these last two years before big kid school. It's such a blessing.

Nerd Day Update

I don't know how many of you read my Nerd Day post and are now wondering how it all turned out. But I thought I would share how everything went down.

That night while I was putting Drew to bed, we had this conversation:

Drew: A lot of kids were wearing glasses today. A. Lot.

Me: Hm. Why do you think that is?

Drew: Well, they probably saw me and thought, 'Wow, he's pretty cool and he wears glasses all the time. I want to be like him and wear pretend glasses!'

Me: Oh, Drew. I love you!

Clearly I am lucky that the nerd thing went over the heads of my kids. They never really understood it, so it was hard for them to become offended. However, I am sure there are families with older children where this wasn't the case. I hope that the situation was handled in those homes in an uplifting way. Drew is usually very sensitive about fitting in. He wants to blend in with his peer group as much as possible. So it turns out everyone wearing glasses like him was a moment of feeling accepted instead of being left out. For that I am very grateful.

I did not receive an email back from Mr. Principal Man. He said he didn't receive one. I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he is telling the truth. However, he and I have exchanged emails before so it seems odd that this one would have gone missing.

Mr. Principal Man and I did chat while I was at the school the next day. He said that the PTO plans the days for Red Ribbon Week and that it was an oversight on his part. He said it didn't occur to him until Monday morning that this could be a negative thing for a school so concerned with anti-bullying. He assured me that it would not happen again and encouraged me to join this particular committee on PTO next year.

My bullying post was my most read post in my blog's history. Thank you for reading! My hope is that my post served as a reminder that kindness and respect do not need to be compromised in the name of fun.

School sponsored bullying?

I worry sometimes about being the crazy parent. I am cautious about calling very qualified educators out about something. But today I can't help but wonder what the hell the school was thinking.

This week is Red Ribbon Week. It is a week of celebrating being drug-free. Every day they choose a new, silly way to celebrate. There are endless possibilities. So this is why I can't understand how the school thinks, in elementary school, that a Nerd Day is a good way to be silly.

How does one explain the term nerd to a child? I know that by the time I was in high school I had a whole group of friends that celebrated our nerdiness. We embraced being awesome for being different. However, the idea that you can explain to a young child what it means to be a nerd is crazy. Everything good about a nerd I want my child to strive for. Nerds are smart, creative people that usually grow up to lead to the world. But this isn't something that is easy to understand for a child trying to figure out who they are. Nerd Day is a way of mocking people who are different. It's not okay. And here I thought we were trying to avoid bullying.


With all of this in mind, I couldn't help but contact the school. This is what I said:

Re: Nerd Day

Hi Mr. Principal Man,

I am emailing because something has been bothering me for a few days. I was going to let it go until today when I dropped my kids off for school and saw the other kids dressed for Nerd Day.

I have two kids at Local School.  They are in kindergarten and second grade. They have both been asking me since last week what a nerd was. Now, we do not make fun of each other at home. We also do not put others down for being who they are. If you are raising your kids to be accepting of all people, it's hard to explain to them what a nerd is. 

So, today, as I drop my sweet kindergartener off for school in glasses he's had since he was two years old, my heart breaks. I wonder how I will explain to him why all the kids thought that dressing like a nerd meant to wear glasses. I wonder, with all the anti-bullying talk around, how a school could be okay with this. There are so many other ways to be silly and fun and promote being drug-free.

I hope that you will take my thoughts into consideration for next year's Red Ribbon Week.

Thanks, 
Taylor 

I'm sure many of you see this as a benign way to have fun. I can imagine the response from my uncle, the educator, who taught me the word nerd. But this can only be fun if we like to laugh at people for being different and I see no good in that. 

deep breathing

Drew loves kindergarten. He plays with everyone and follows every rule. His teacher commented one day, when Drew was cautiously walking with an untied shoe, that he was cautious about everything. Which, she pointed out, was the opposite of his sister.

Anyway, so Drew loves school. He is always all smiles when we pick him up. As we start walking to the car he starts walking slower and slower, like he is running out of gas. By the time the door to the van shuts, he is out of gas and running on angry fumes. He usually lashes out at a sister pretty soon after his seatbelt clicks. Lily uses this opportunity to repay him for all of the times that he has quietly pushed her buttons until she explodes.  Yesterday was no different. That exact scenario repeated itself another day. 

Every day I check backpacks before I leave my parking spot. It's one of my strategies for dealing with my disorganization. I look over stuff, sign permissions, etc., so that I don't have to think about it again. I pulled a drawing out of Drew's backpack just as he wallops Julianna. I warn him to cut it out and distract him by asking about his drawing. He angrily explained, "It's a picture of me angry taking a deep breath!" I said, "Oh, what a good idea. You can practice that now!"

"I don't need to practice! I can't do it!"

"Well, you need to figure something out because if you continue to be grumpy you will be practicing your deep breathing in your room at home."

He then took three or four deep, quick, huffy breaths and retorted, "See! I did it! It doesn't work!"

 After this exchange, I pulled into traffic behind a slow moving line of cars. drew started yelling at the truck in front of me to move out of the way! Go you crazy truck! MOOOOVE! This made me chuckle, because it was so over the top. I didn't respond. In fact, I have no idea where he picked up road rage. I am usually pretty laidback when I drive.

I swear to you, not three blocks later, Drew said, "Mom! That deep breathing works! I did it and now I feel better!"

Whew! I guess we do learn everything we need to know in life in kindergarten.

where the cool go to school

Dear Parents of Elementary Schoolers,

Yesterday Drew dressed in a typical fancy outfit. He wore suit pants, a polo, and a suit vest. He loves to wear fancy suit clothes, and especially vests. I felt a little apprehensive about it, as he is very sensitive to what people say about him. It turns out, by allowing this expression, I sent him to the wolves. He won't tell me who said it or even what they said. I only know that for picture day today he  changed his mind from the polo/vest combo to something seemingly trendy. He looked adorable. But it made me sad that some twit made him feel uneasy about dressing is his favorite outfit.

I'm mad at the kid. But I'm more mad at you. I want to know at what point it became important to make your kid the "cool" kid in kindergarten. When did your self confidence become so low that you felt it was necessary to groom your kid for cool? I thought kindergarten was a time for fun and learning and making friends. I was under the impression that middle school was when we started to worry about fitting in.

Kids do not bully naturally. It is a learned behavior. My kids are not learning to bully in my home. We do not make fun of each other. We find other ways to laugh. We teach acceptance and allow our kids to be anyone they choose to be. My kids are told they can try whatever interests them. They can grow up to be anything they want. Kids learn to love themselves by watching us love them and from watching us love ourselves and our neighbor. 

Fellow parents, you need to take your ego down a notch. The goal in life is not to be the cool grown up. As you raise your kids you need to remember that confidence born from other people's opinion is false. Why don't we, for the rest of elementary school, allow our kids to be kids. Let's let them decide what to wear, what games to play and what friends to choose. They have their whole lives to decide who they are. Let's not confuse them early by forcing them to do what you have deemed the cool thing to do. 

Sincerely,
A fellow parent...who will kick your ass if you don't teach your kids some manners soon

First day of preschool

Dear Julianna,

Welcome to your first First Day of School Letter. I am so happy that you have finally made it to your first day of preschool. You were so excited for this day.

You are only going to school two days a week because I want to enjoy you as much as I can these last two years before you begin kindergarten. Maybe this is a tad selfish of me but I think that you will have your whole life to go to school. We only have a short amount of time before you will be on your way.

Julianna, they are going to love having you at school. You are generally a happy girl that likes to have fun. You love to laugh and joke with us at home. I do worry that you will be too shy to let everyone see how funny and smart you are. I know it can be hard to overcome shyness, but it can be done. I can tell you from experience that opening up just a little bit to people and making friends can enrich your life. Not everyone will answer with kindness, but most will and will be happy to be your friend.

I love you so much and have loved seeing you become your own person. In your own way, you like to set yourself apart from your siblings and other girls your age. You prefer to wear boy clothes most days and you have never once stopped to consider that there is anything wrong with this practice. Good for you! I hope that you can remain yourself always. I love that you still love to throw on a dress and apply a dab (pound) of lip gloss and go about your day like you have not been demanding to wear only boy clothes for two months. This reminds me that you are who you are with no apologies. You are on a mission to find what feels right for you and I can't help but admire you for it.

I love you just the way you are and wouldn't change a thing. Keep that lovely smile and your sensitive heart.

Much love,
Mommy

Kindergarten letter to Drew

Dear Drew,

You were off to school today. You had no reservations, questions, or concerns right up until the last second. Even then the only way I knew you were getting nervous was because I captured it in a very telling photograph.

When you were first born you wanted me to hold you at all times. It was a rare moment when I could lay you down and walk away. It was six months before I could get you to sleep in your crib and not next to me in my bed. I loved snuggling you and being near you but I wondered how we would ever make it to the day where you were ready to venture out into the world without me. We made it. You have remained ever close to me. You are my child that wants to be with me as much as possible. You follow me around asking if I will play with you, get you a snack, or even offer to do chores with me. There were days that I wanted to hide from your constant pestering! But you know what? All that time and attention and love we poured into each other during those early years are the reason I know that you can go out and remain the sweet strong boy you are.  I am so grateful that we had that time and were able to share so much before you went off to start school.

A few weeks ago as we snuggled in your bed before you went to sleep, we were chatting about our day and about life in general. During this conversation you shared that your favorite thing to do with dad was to shoot guns and work on stuff. I asked you what your favorite thing to do with me was and you looked at me right in the eye and said, "This, what we are doing right now. This is my favorite." I melted into a puddle and then I agreed. Those times that we sit close and share our thoughts with each other will not last forever. Right now you do not understand how fleeting those moments are. I do. I understand that I am getting closer and closer to the day that I will not be the one snuggled close to you. I will not be the one to hear your deepest thoughts. It's part of the deal in life. When you raise kids, you only get to keep them for a little while. It's not long before they are off to do big things...and if you're a parent who did it right, your child will be ready to go....without mom.

Okay, so that last part made me cry. I do not want to be sad today. This is a day to be celebrated. Drew, you are so great and awesome. You are funny and stubborn and loving and brave. You know exactly who you are and who you want to be. I can't even count how many times a person has met you and come to me later to share that you were the most delightful, darling boy. More than once someone has stopped me to share that you were the cutest or sweetest boy. Lord knows I know you're not perfect and you will have obstacles to overcome in life. Just know that being perfect and loved by all is not the goal in life. My hope for you is that you will live with integrity, show kindness and acceptance, and that you will have enough love in your life always. My hope is you remain yourself as you continue your education. It's no easy task but I have confidence you will do it. When life gets hard, I am always right here to cheer you on.

I love you sweet boy,
Mom

The Drew Video

Drew goes to his first day of kindergarten tomorrow. As you can imagine, I am feeling pretty emotional about it. I have to say, I am less sad and more excited for him. I feel like he and I have had so much amazing time together and we've developed a bond that is strong and healthy. He is ready to head to kindergarten. He's excited. I'm excited for him. I would feel bad to mourn this time and I'd rather celebrate his next step. This little video is just a snip it of the moments and years we've spent together as he grew into a boy big enough for kindergarten. I know that this is only the beginning of his big adventure. I know that he'll be sharing with me as he goes along. I know that I will be celebrating him for the rest of my life. He is just getting started.

I really love this kid a whole lot. I'm pretty sure he knows that already.

Stay tuned for the kindergarten letter tomorrow.

second grade letter

My darling Lily,

Today you started second grade. You were ready in the sense that you are ready to tackle the academics required in second grade. You were not ready in the sense that you could not decide what to wear. You got up at 6:30 and you were still not dressed at 7:25. Girl, you have got to relax when it comes to your fashion. You have suddenly become obsessed with your clothes matching perfectly and your hair laying just so. It will be a long and demanding year of school if you cannot let some of that go. It should be noted that you wore the same outfit to school today that you wore to the school open house last night.

You are going to do well this year and it seems that you have an excellent teacher. I hope that this year you spend some time getting to know your classmates and making friends. Your peers respect you. However, you don't seem to have time to actually be friends with people. You are much too busy with your own thoughts and ideas to busy yourself with other people. I am not too worried about it and it doesn't seem to bother you one bit. But, it is good to have a network of friends in life. You should start building the skills to make friends and maintain friendships. It's a good skill to have.

I am looking forward to your year as a second grader. I am hopeful that you again rise to the occasion, as you have always done in years past. You seem to have matured over the summer and that should help you to juggle the responsibilities of second grade.

I love you and your growing independence. Here is to another great year!

Much love,
Mom

My Lily

Today is Lily's last day of first grade.

I have begun to marvel at how grown up she is. She knows and understands herself better than most adults know and understand themselves. She knows her limits, her strengths, and when she could use a break.

For example, today is the last day of school. This week is also production week for her first dance recital. Production week has required Lily to go to dance in full costume every night this week through Saturday. She knows that this is a lot for her to handle. So, today, she made the choice to come home from school early to spend some time doing art and recharging so that she doesn't become over-stimulated and stressed out. Now, I'm not an advocate of missing school. But I have confidence that Lily didn't miss any important instruction today at school and she's learned a very good lesson in taking care of herself.

Yesterday I had a friend say to me: If everyone in the world had a little bit of Lily in them the world would be a better place.

That was an amazing thing to hear about my child.

 As the mother of a child like Lily, there are days that feel like I am doing everything wrong. There are days that I have over-sharing, know-it-alls telling me that I've screwed up somewhere. Then there are the days that I see who Lily is, who she really is, and I know that I am doing it right. I have not screwed up. Lily is amazing just the way she is and I am lucky to witness her life. She will do great things and I will always be proud to be her mom.