Without failure, there is no possibility of success. They both go hand-in-hand. Everyone has shortcomings and my hardest failure and successes are parenting.  

To my darling children, 

There are days when I fail you as a parent and that breaks my heart. I am sure it breaks yours as well. I go to bed and reflect on my day and I think about what I could have done differently. I start realizing I could have listened more, I could have been more empathetic and I could have been less angry. For that, I am sorry because I focus on my own feelings instead of focusing on yours. 

You see, I know I am a good mum but there are days when I am not the mother you need. You deserve more than what I can provide some days.   

In the moment it seems like time has frozen or you feel like you have the time in the world but in reality, you all grow up too fast and before we know it: your eyes are older, your hair is longer, you are taller and you are wiser. It is exciting to know there is much ahead of you but it also makes me afraid of challenges for all of us in the future. It is more so how we deal with those challenges together that scare me rather than the challenges themselves. There is a certain magic within families where there is unwavering love and sticking together. I just hope our family will keeps that magic within us. 

Here is what I need you to know

• Everybody makes mistakes (including me)

• I love you in the good and bad moments

• I never want to lose your heart

• Your happiness is what matters most to me

• We all have good and bad sides but we need to make sure we feed the good side (I will continue            throughout your life to teach you how)

• We all have imperfections 

• We are not perfect at everything, so: Try again, fail again, fail better until you get it right 

• In saying the above point, you can only improve if you reflect on what you learned from those               failures

But remember, my dears

We need bad days to keep the good ones in perspective.

I also need you to know that your love and trust in me inspires me to pull out my greatest parenting potential that I have in order to give you all that you deserve. 

For the parents that are reading this

Kids remember the ones that stay, the ones that show up to events, the ones that don’t give up, the ones that show “I love you”, the ones that continue to try without giving up. It doesn’t mean they won’t remember the hard times but if the good outweighs the bad then there is nothing you should be worried about. You can only do your best and they will love you regardless. 

If you could tell your child anything, what would it be? Mine would be: As long as there is magic and love, families stay together.

See ya, 

Emmylou