Raising a Daughter With Room to Be Her — Not Just a Reflection of Me
Raising a Daughter With Room to Be Her — Not Just a Reflection of Me
The late spring air is finally settling in, bringing with it that scent of fresh cut grass and blooming lilacs. It’s a season of growth, isn't it? And lately, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on growth, not just in my garden, but in my daughter.
It’s funny, isn't it? When they’re little, we see so much of ourselves in them. A certain tilt of the head, a shared love for a silly joke, or even the way they organize their tiny books (definitely got that from me). We nurture them, guide them, sometimes even secretly hope they’ll avoid our missteps and embrace our strengths. It’s natural, I think, to want them to be a better, shinier version of us.
But then they grow, truly grow, and something shifts. My daughter, now a young adult, is undeniably her own person. And sometimes, that person is wonderfully, beautifully, maddeningly different from me. Her approach to decisions, her taste in music, even her comfort level in social situations – they’re not always what I would do, or what I would expect.
For an introverted soul like me, this can be… an adjustment. There’s a quiet comfort in the familiar, in the patterns we understand. Watching her forge her own path, especially when it veers off mine, requires a conscious effort of letting go. It’s not about judgment, not really. It’s more about untangling that instinctual desire for her reflection to mirror mine, and instead, just seeing *her*.
I remember a quiet moment a few weeks ago, watching her engaged in something she’s incredibly passionate about – something that really isn’t "my thing" at all. And a wave of pure, unadulterated pride just washed over me. Not pride that she was doing *my* thing, or even doing something I understood perfectly, but pride in *her*. In her conviction, her drive, her unique light.
That's when it hit me, not for the first time, but perhaps with new clarity: my role isn't to polish a mirror. It's to tend a garden where a magnificent, one-of-a-kind flower can bloom, however it's meant to. My faith reminds me that she is fearfully and wonderfully made, a purpose-built soul by a divine hand, not merely an echo of my own. Trusting that truth means giving her space to explore, to stumble, to soar, guided by her own compass, even when I can't quite read the directions.
It’s a continuous lesson in faith, in humility, and in unconditional love. It’s about celebrating the breathtaking differences as much as the comforting similarities. It means stepping back and whispering a prayer, rather than stepping in with unsolicited advice. Most of the time, anyway. Old habits die hard, right?
Have you felt this shift with your own daughter? That beautiful, sometimes challenging, journey of watching them become utterly, gloriously themselves?
#thisisme #aboutme #christianmom #wife #emptynester #simplelifestyle #etsy #artinsciencedesigns
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