Things I Wish Would Stick...

I wish she would always feel pretty and confident, like every time she puts on a dress and tights and says, "I want to dance in this!"
I wish she would always be a leader, like at Friday's playgroup, when she rallied three bickering 2-year-olds by yelling, "Let's all cook something, guys!" and just started playing...and they all listened...
I wish she would always be optimistic...like when it's a crummy day out and we are all stuck inside, and I catch her at the front window by herself singing quietly, "Rain..rain..go away...come again another day..." with a smile on her face...
I wish she would always take little things in stride...like whenever I can't do something she wants, I will tell her to "just pretend we are doing it" and she usually goes for it and starts pretending...
I wish she would always be lovey-dovey with me...like last night when we snuggled under the covers and she kept kissing my cheek and telling me she loved me for no reason other than she does...

I hope she always remembers (and feels) that she is strong and brave and fun and smart. Life is hard and I think about all the crummy things that will happen to her...people will inevitably be mean, and times will be tough, and being a teenager is the worst, and being in your 20's has its very highs and very lows, and sometimes when I think about all that she will go through, it makes me want to cry. So I will just hope the things we are teaching her today will stick...and we will prepare her for this crazy world and do the best we all can do and she will still end up the fantastic person she is at age 2 1/2....strong, brave, fun and smart.