We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse!

Ethan, this is for you. I had thought of posting this when your youngest sibling comes into this world, but after your fuss about going to school this morning, I decided it couldn't wait.
I’d really like for my children to know about hand-me-down clothes and home-made pastries and leftover meals. I really would.

My cherished children, I hope you learn humility by surviving failure and that you learn to be honest even when no one is looking.
I hope you learn to make your bed and mow the lawn and wash the car; and I hope your mom will not give you a brand-new car even when you have graduated from college.

It will be good if at least one time you can see a baby animal being born, and you have a good friend to be with you if you ever have to put your old dog to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

I made sure that you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it is all right to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he’s scared; I hope you’ll let him.

And when you want to see a Disney movie and your kid brother wants to tag along, I hope you take him.

I hope you have to walk uphill with your friends and in a town where you can do it safely.

If you want a slingshot, I hope you learn by yourself how to make one instead of buying one.
I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read more books, and when you learn to use computers, you also learn how to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get teased by friends when you have your first crush on a girl, and that when you talk back to your mother you learn what soap tastes like.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on the stove and stick your tongue on something frozen.

I hope you get sick when someone blows smoke in your face. I don’t care if you try beer once, but I hope you won’t like it too much. And if a friend offers you a cigarette or any drugs, I hope you are smart enough to realize that person is not your friend.

I sure hope you will make time to sit on a porch with your parents or go fishing with your uncles.
I hope your mother punishes you when you break something belonging to someone else, and that she hugs you and kisses you when you give her a plaster of paris mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you; tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.