Tell my readers a little about yourself. I'm a 30 (jeesh, when did THAT happen?!?) year old stay-at-home mom/full-time nursing student. My amazing hubby and I have been married 6 years and are the parents to one super-wonderful 19 month old - Rosalie Pearl. We live in Nashville with our crazy cat Olive and a gimpy goldfish named Mr. Bates.
I want to know about your background. How did your mother influence you? What did she teach you that you hope to pass on to Rosie? Eh, my childhood was difficult. I didn't have it the worst, but did have to deal with verbal/emotional abuse and alcoholic family members. My parents were sort of different. We moved alot (just for the heck of it, not for any real reason) and so I ended up going to numerous schools and living in numerous states which was so hard. My mother was a hippy at heart. Like the milk our own goats, make our own fruit roll-ups, store enough canned goods to get us through the apocalypse sort of lady. I hated it. All I wanted to do was fit in and here was my mom buying our clothes at Walmart and selling pies out of our house. I don't think it's really been until recently that she and I have become so close. My dad died in 2009 and I had Rosie in 2010. Now that I'm a mom I see all the ways she was an amazing mother. It was all in her own way but I didn't appreciate it until I was a mommy myself. She's taught me how to be frugal, to grow gardens and can food and how to stretch a dollar farther than you think possible. As a family living on one income this has been invaluable. She's also been one of my biggest cheerleaders as I go back to school. What I want to pass on to Rosie is that it's quite alright to march to your own beat. My momma was always herself and though I didn't appreciate it then, I see now what a huge impact that had on me. I want Rosalie to be happy in her own skin and to chase after what she loves.
Seeing that Rosie is still so young, how do you plan to show her, or to teach her what true beauty is? Oh heaven's ... what a question! How do I plan to teach my daughter what true beauty is? As cheesy as it sounds, there's a little line from a Dr. Suess book that says, "a person's a person no matter how small." and that silly little bit of wisdom has always stuck with me. my story isn't a new one - i was bullied, i had a difficult home-life... i could go on about how unhappy alot of things were for me. but, what good does that do? i think stories and experience are very important and i will share them with my daughter, but from them I want to teach her about love and compassion. That every single person is a person. Treat everyone with kindness - even if you don't see eye to eye, even if you bug the crud out of each other, even if you have nothing in common, even if they look different or sound different - a little kindness goes a very long way. And as the momma of a little lady, teaching her true beauty - what a daunting task. Can I just say I'll keep her in a bubble, away from tv, malls and boys??? no? that doesn't work?
What role do you foresee your husband taking in helping to teach Rosie about self-confidence? I'm lucky to be part of a great momma/daddy combo and i think my hubby will take a huge roll in teaching Rosie true beauty. A positive father/daughter relationship is vital for giving her a solid foundation of who she is and why she's truly beautiful.
How do you plan to teach Rosie about seeing more to a person that what is on the outside?I'll let her know she is beautiful for all the things she is. Not just her pretty, sweet, wonderful little face - but her laugh, her humor, her amazing little personality. I want to tell her every.single.day that I love her - for ALL that she is, no matter what. I know alot of it probably won't stick and when she's about 13 she'll probably think I'm the dumbest person on the planet, but this isn't going to stop me. I love you my sweet Rosalie - I'll tell you that every day! The moment I became a mommy I understood - having a baby truly changes everything. If I can show to her that I love her and think she's perfect and really mean it, then maybe some of that will stick in her sweet little brain?
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Amanda blogs at Babbling Brooke. She's fun and hilarious, and totally worth checking out! Thanks, Amanda!
Thanks for the sweet little post!!
ReplyDeletexoxo