In the mornings when we are getting ready for work and daycare Em always wants cuddle time. Most of the time I hold her and we chat, but the past couple of weeks I decided to change it up some. I have started holding her and while swaying back and forth singing you are my sunshine.
I do this not only for her but also for myself. There will come a time that I can't hold her and sing to her, and while I have this moment I want to take advantage of it. I may not be the best Mommy, let me take that back I know I am not the best Mommy. There are times that I don't follow through with only one more book statement, that I let her have sweets when she probably doesn't need them, or keep a spotless house. However, I try to do meaningful things with her, and instill in her that she is my sunshine. She makes the grey skies blue again, warms my heart, and changes my day.
I do it for her, so she knows that she is a blessing, she does matter, and she is beautiful. How often do we see teenage girls who do not value themselves. Do not get me wrong all of that is not related to parenting, but a lot of it is. The parents control what the girls watch on tv which leads to self image, but the girls also see their self worth from parents. I want my daughter to know that she is not only beautiful but also smart, funny, and creative. I want her to have her self worth, and know she is priceless.
If as parents we do not teach this then who will? Are we going to rely on the friends who may influence her to follow the crowd, or will we step up and remind them to be true to themselves. Rely on the bullies to tell them everything that is "ugly" about them, or will we teach them how beautiful and unique they are made? Rely on tv to show them how to dress to get what they want, or will we teach them that their value isn't based on less clothing? You see every choice we make directly influences them. Take a week and look at how you speak to your child, how you behave, and how your child is behaving. Then next week change something about how you speak to your child, or how you behave take a moment and look at the changes in your child.
You see while we are so busy looking at how the world impacts our children we often miss how much we are impacting our children. Last night Emma was playing and all of a sudden started singing you are my sunshine. Now imagine if we continue to instill this into our children, and they are faced with a difficult situation how will they react? I doubt when she is older and faced with a difficult decision she will sing you are my sunshine, but I hope she thinks of something wise that her imperfect mommy told her. Maybe if she has a boyfriend that isn't treating her right, she will hear in her head how many times her daddy has told her that she is beautiful and he loves her. Maybe when someone is telling her that she can't she will remember us telling her to try again. I hope in those moments she is able to know her value, worth, and beauty.
Have you taken the time to tell your child that they are your sunshine? No matter their age, they need to know that they are valued. How many of us as adults need to know that we are valued?
