Dear Daughter

Dear Daughter,

It’s the day after Labor Day and your school closed for a teacher workday. In some ways, it was difficult to adjust my expectations and take a day off work during an already shortened week. Being a working mom is tricky sometimes. The time off was well worth it though. We ended up having an awesome mommy-daughter day.

We spent hours lounging at the pool enjoying the breezy, sunny weather. You asked me to tell you about what my life was like when I was a kid. Your favorite story was about the battle of the word “shut up.” It goes like this:

When I was 10 years old, my baby sister was in preschool and had gotten in trouble for saying “shut up” at school. My parents announced that this word would be forever outlawed in our household, and the older girls (especially me, since I was the oldest) had to set a better example for our baby sister. Their plan offended me. We already had too many rules in our house, and adding even one more seemed unbearable. I said that the new rule was unfair and unnecessary and let them know that I refused to comply.  

My parents said that if any of us broke the rule, she would have her mouth washed out with soap. (Our household was more of a dictatorship than a democracy.) To this, I attempted to insight a rebellion by shouting “SHUT UP!” My parents grabbed the dish soap from the kitchen sink and chased me down. My mom held my head still as my dad sat on my body and pried open my mouth. The bitter soap burned my tongue. I spit out soapy foam and wiped it on my arm. After getting a safe distance away from my parents, I called over my shoulder “SHUT UP!” They were too tired to chase me down after that.

You laughed and laughed at the story. Perhaps you understand now why we are allowed to say whatever words we want to in our house. You are not allowed to say things like “shut up” at school, so you stay out of trouble by watching your mouth while you’re there. But, at home, we sing Shut Up and Dance With Me at the top of our lungs. No words are off limits to us.

I love you, dear daughter. I love our life together with your dad. We have fun and we laugh a lot. Sometimes I wonder if life ever gets any better than this.

Love,

Me