I believe nothing amazing is ever accomplished overnight. Rome was not built in a day, and neither is confidence. I believe as mothers, we are the sculptors of our children’s self-esteem. My goal for all my children is that I can instill in them a strong confidence and a knowledge that unconditional love will always be found right here at home. I would love it if they knew this so much they almost took it for granted by the time they became teenagers so that all the insecurities of that phase in life, and further on, bead off them like water on a duck’s back.
I am aware this is a tall order. Rivers are not carved in a day or by huge quantities of water. They are carved one drop at a time over long periods of time. So, my job of building confidence and self-esteem began the day P was born.
Every night, as she is falling asleep, I whisper in her ear things I hope will sink in during the night. I tell her how much I love her. I tell her how amazing, talented, beautiful, bright, funny, coordinated, unique, special, wonderful she is. I tell her how she is my gift, my gem, my love, my star. I tell her that I’ve been dreaming of her since I was 5 years old and that never in my wildest dreams did I come up with a being so beautiful in so many ways.
I hope over time some of these things stick with her. The day she starts hearing not so nice things from the world outside I hope all the good I said will muffle the bad from her heart and mind. At 14 months she seems to beam through out the day so I think something must be sticking.
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