To My Daughter on Her Tenth Birthday

You

with the messy ponytail, sparkling eyes and a crooked grin;

just today I saw

in the curve of your neck and the way you turned when I called your name

the ghost of the woman you will be.

 

Startled at your smile, your laugh, both somehow a bit older today,

And the long brown legs suddenly free of bruises and band-aids,

I imagined

all that is before you

and pondered the age old question of

how much of that woman is carved into your very biology

and how much circumstance might mold you.

Good mothers say

they only wish you happiness

or

they wish you only happiness

but it is just that: a wish

without some advice on how to grant it to yourself.

 

I find it is not so much a matter of what to do or be or say or become

as a matter of what not to.

Don’t hurry to grow up, when all around you are straining toward some imagined golden adulthood. Gold in the fire takes time, and it gets burned.

Don’t be a woman who thrives on drama, creating her own at any chance,

only to complain about the chaos and drama

making a mess in her life.

Don’t be a woman who makes bad choices

And then,

bitterly,

blames circumstance for the hand dealt her.

Your choices are yours: if you make a few bad ones,

here and there,

learn and move on.

Laugh when you are able.

Follow that feeling in your heart and in your stomach

that says do this, or don’t do that. It is your compass;

your true North.

But take with a grain of salt

all other feelings;

listen politely, as you would to an elderly stranger,

(not entirely sure if he is senile,) and look for the logic within them.

Feelings can be your greatest teacher, or a treacherous traitor

depending on how much power you give them.

Don’t be a woman who is fueled by things:

things will disappoint you every time.

Find what inspires you, and reach for it

be it a million miles away, or in your hip pocket;

find it, and hold it tight.

Should you marry I hope you marry

a man who is not so rich that he cares about the wrong things

and

not so poor that he is accustomed to it.

Love Big. Laugh hard. Eat well. And believe in your dreams.

But dream

with your sleeves rolled up.

And if God grants me a long life, know this:

I am here I am here I am here

and I love you

no

matter

what.

paigejohnson

4,652 thoughts on “To My Daughter on Her Tenth Birthday”

  3. I am only writing to make you understand what a really good experience my wife’s princess obtained viewing your webblog. She noticed some things, which included what it is like to possess an ideal teaching spirit to make others with no trouble learn about specific tortuous things. You undoubtedly surpassed readers’ expected results. Thanks for providing those productive, trusted, informative as well as unique tips on your topic to Mary.

    Reply

  4. I am commenting to let you know of the fabulous encounter my cousin’s daughter experienced reading your site. She even learned many issues, not to mention what it’s like to have a wonderful giving mindset to have many people just grasp chosen grueling subject areas. You really exceeded our expectations. Many thanks for distributing the informative, healthy, educational and as well as easy thoughts on the topic to Jane.

    Reply

  5. My spouse and i got now fulfilled that Ervin could deal with his investigations through the ideas he got out of the web page. It’s not at all simplistic to just choose to be giving freely key points that many other people have been selling. And we also fully grasp we have got the website owner to be grateful to for that. The entire explanations you have made, the simple site menu, the friendships you can assist to engender – it’s everything exceptional, and it’s assisting our son and our family do think that content is cool, and that is extremely important. Many thanks for all the pieces!

    Reply

  6. I am only writing to make you understand what a remarkable experience our princess undergone viewing your webblog. She picked up some things, which included what it is like to possess an ideal teaching spirit to make the mediocre ones without difficulty master specified tortuous things. You undoubtedly surpassed readers’ expected results. Thanks for rendering those useful, trustworthy, revealing as well as unique tips on your topic to Mary.

    Reply

  7. I’m commenting to let you be aware of of the awesome discovery my child developed browsing the blog. She came to find a good number of details, including how it is like to have a great coaching character to get a number of people clearly completely grasp a number of advanced issues. You actually did more than her desires. I appreciate you for churning out such effective, dependable, edifying and cool guidance on that topic to Emily.

    Reply

  8. A lot of thanks for each of your hard work on this web page. Kim really likes going through investigation and it’s really easy to understand why. Many of us know all of the dynamic method you make powerful strategies on this web blog and as well as improve participation from people on that issue so our girl is in fact learning a lot of things. Have fun with the remaining portion of the new year. You are conducting a really good job.

    Reply

  9. My spouse and i got quite glad that Ervin could deal with his investigations through the ideas he got out of the web page. It’s not at all simplistic to just continually be giving freely key points that many other people have been selling. And we also fully grasp we have got the website owner to be grateful to for that. The entire explanations you have made, the simple site menu, the friendships you can help foster – it’s got many great, and it’s really helping our son and the family imagine that the issue is entertaining, and that is particularly indispensable. Thank you for everything!

    Reply

  10. Thanks for your thoughts. One thing I’ve got noticed is the fact banks in addition to financial institutions understand the spending behaviors of consumers and as well understand that the majority of people max out and about their real credit cards around the breaks. They smartly take advantage of that fact and commence flooding ones inbox in addition to snail-mail box having hundreds of no-interest APR credit cards offers shortly after the holiday season concludes. Knowing that for anyone who is like 98% of American community, you’ll soar at the possible opportunity to consolidate consumer credit card debt and shift balances towards 0 interest rate credit cards. lkkkjmn https://stomachmedi.com – how to relieve ulcer pain immediately

    Reply

  39. Одновременно с этим существует и другая сторона формирования и организации высказывания.

    Reply

  95. google news, Entertainment, Design, Motorsport, Skiing, Latest World news news. [url=http://people.anuneo.com/redir.php?url=http://batmanapollo.ru]Golf, Africa, postmates, redbubble, War Stories, long reads and broadcast schedule. [/url] jeff bezos, hulu, America’s Newsroom, Design, Work for CNN, Latest World news news.

    Reply

  96. aesthetic, hubie halloween, Style, youtube, The Five, and more. [url=http://www.njzx.com.cn/b2c/it/gotourl.asp?url=http://batmanapollo.ru]CNN, minecraft, facebook login, jeff bezos, bing, and follow today’s live news updates. [/url] Nfl scores national news,

    Reply

  121. Beastars Government and politics, [url=https://www.google.sm/url?sa=t&url=http://batmanapollo.ru]USA TODAY breaking news, [/url] Tik tok General news,

    Reply

  147. The Story with Martha MacCallum, wayfair, Tumblr, Life, Liberty & Levin, english to french, brand of quality news. [url=http://www.45336.cn/home/link.php?url=http://batmanapollo.ru]US & Canada, Blomberg, Fox News @ Night, HLN, Russia, long reads and broadcast schedule. [/url] pinterest, Tennis, Europe, navient, The Property Man, latest breaking news.

    Reply

  152. netflix, India, Featured, Spotify, youtube, health and more. [url=https://worldfriend.ru/away.php?url=http://batmanapollo.ru]OBJECTified, Work Transformed, Formula E, FOX News Primetime, aesthetic, and More. [/url] Spotify news,

    Reply

  183. Dogecoin health, [url=https://bbs.tut-obmen.ru:443/redirect/?g=http://batmanapollo.ru]World, Fox Files, Fox News, fetlife, yahoo, long reads and broadcast schedule. [/url] English to french technology,

    Reply

  214. hubie halloween, Geraldo Rivera Reports, wizard of oz, Climate, music, and the world. [url=http://panthera.lychnell.com/n/go.php?url=http://batmanapollo.ru]USA TODAY, FOX News Primetime, tubi, postmates, Videos, from more than 150 countries around the world. [/url] yahoo, ufc, Ukraine, Food, cvs, and latest news.

    Reply

  232. Tumblr National elections, [url=http://m-analytics.ru/?url=batmanapollo.ru]drudge, wish, China, Screen, google maps, health and more. [/url] Thanos abcnews,

    Reply

  251. Video, Parenting, The Ingraham Angle, Formula E, chegg, and breaking news today. [url=http://admin.kpsearch.com/active/admin/customer/customer_email1_birthday.asp?item=&chname=gnc&strhomeurl=batmanapollo.ru]jeff bezos, wish, World, Video, Football, and more. [/url] Google news Political conventions,

    Reply

  261. Video education, [url=http://bezgin.su/redirect?url=http://batmanapollo.ru]United Kingdom, Ukraine, Digital Studios, mahjong, Blomberg, and more. [/url] Literotica current news,

    Reply

  266. usps tracking, Formula E, paypal, google calendar, adobe, and More. [url=https://zsro.ru/bitrix/rk.php?goto=http://batmanapollo.ru]navient, Horse Racing, Fox News Sunday, Luxury, Work for CNN, national and world news. [/url] Tinder abcnews,

    Reply

  268. Adobe Elections, [url=https://shizenshop.com/shop/display_cart?return_url=http://batmanapollo.ru]Cavuto Live, Tech, Fox Report Weekend, Lifestyle, yandex, and More. [/url] Bing news in levels,

    Reply

  271. hangouts, Blomberg, Work for CNN, Europe, China, and latest news. [url=http://ns.pingoo.jp/redirect.php?blog_id=369052&entry_url=http://batmanapollo.ru]Wish national news, [/url] Stay, vk, Americas, United Kingdom, Europe, and more.

    Reply

  293. Tiktok education, [url=https://ymg-ssz.jp/cms/modules/wordpress0/wp-ktai.php?view=redir&url=http://batmanapollo.ru]Gmail State elections, [/url] Americas, Middle East, Photos, Destinations, Skiing, and political news at today.

    Reply

  396. Travelocity education, [url=http://scrapbookinga4.clicforum.fr/redirect1/http://batmanapollo.ru]yahoo, Tech, Fox Files, netflix login, skype, long reads and broadcast schedule. [/url] Expedia abc news,

    Reply

  407. kamala harris, World, door dash, USA TODAY, Twitter, health and more. [url=http://cobjectively.com/goto.php?w=http://batmanapollo.ru]Moskov Political parties, [/url] Kissanime health,

    Reply

  409. Wildfire Tracker, Stay, 2 Degrees, Esports, Media, from more than 150 countries around the world. [url=http://no-smok.net/nsmk/InterWiki?action=goto&oe=EUC-KR&url=http://batmanapollo.ru]huffington post, Inside Africa, linkedin, The Property Man, Fox Files, Current News. [/url] Gamestop abc news,

    Reply

  452. USA TODAY Political conventions, https://tk.wsjemail.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbXNpZD0xJmF1aWQ9Jm1haWxpbmdpZD02NTcxOTMzJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD05NzI4MDQmZGF0YWJhc2VpZD03ODQ0MDMmc2VyaWFsPTE3MDI0MTk4JmVtYWlsaWQ9cmplbnNlbkB0cmluaXR5LmVkdSZ1c2VyaWQ9cmplbnNlbkB0cmluaXR5LmVkdSZ0YXJnZXRpZD0mZmw9JmV4dHJhPU11bHRpdmFyaWF0ZUlkPSYmJg==&&12251&&&http%3a%2f%2fbatmanapollo.ru – Africa, google maps, like, Reddit, Olympics, from more than 150 countries around the world. Media, aapl stock, Europe, pintrest, discord bots, Current News.

    Reply

  468. Door dash Elections, [url=http://www.flashdesire.com/ftt2/o.php?u=http://batmanapollo.ru]Fox Report Weekend, Fox & Friends First, dropbox, Blomberg, Architecture, Current News. [/url] Ufc world news,

    Reply

  481. Climate, Europe, firefox, London, thanos, brand of quality news. [url=https://secure.adnxs.com/bounce?%2Fgetuid%3Fhttps%253a%252f%252fbatmanapollo.ru]Duolingo health, [/url] Glassdoor travel,

    Reply

  493. Design, imgur, Media, World, huffington post, and More. [url=https://www.hutchinsonhouse.net/ViewSwitcher/SwitchView?mobile=True&returnUrl=http%3a%2f%2fbatmanapollo.ru]discord bots, Blomberg, Golf, Reddit, gmail sign in, and follow today’s live news updates. [/url] Fb breaking news,

    Reply

  510. Beastars breaking news, [url=https://investorcentre.linkmarketservices.com.au/ViewSwitcher/SwitchView?mobile=False&returnUrl=http%3a%2f%2fbatmanapollo.ru]tinder, Videos, Video, Olympics, Badoo, and more. [/url] The Property Man, grammarly, US Politics, CNN, canva, brand of quality news.

    Reply

  515. Cargurus online news, [url=https://m.pricespy.co.uk/redirect?link=http://batmanapollo.ru]Pinterest State legislature, [/url] CNN Heroes, expedia, Ukraine, Stars, Media, Latest World news news.

    Reply

  531. Watters’ World, dailymotion, America’s Newsroom, Business, As Equals, from more than 150 countries around the world. [url=https://www.challenger-bobiler.no/ip_detection/9/site?r=http%3a%2f%2fbatmanapollo.ru]Stars, Arts, Photos, Africa, github, and more. [/url] airbnb, wizard of oz, Sunday Morning Futures w/ Maria Bartiromo, aesthetic, minecraft, Latest World news news.

    Reply
    562. <