Confession: I’ve got a lady-in-training around my house, and I’m terrified.
Boys are difficult in their own way—bullheaded and rash—but they’re soft-hearted beneath, easy to get to. This girl thing of angel one day, minx the next is harder to get a hold of. And without big sisters, her only day-to-day pattern is her mother.
I love, love having a daughter. Her gray eyes melt me. Her baby words enthrall me. Her trust, her vulnerability, her mimicry I find enchanting.
She knows things no one ever taught her—
Like mothering (the way she fed her babies from her own snack when she was not more than 12 months old, the way she combs their hair and says “Sorry, baby!” because she knows it hurts, the way she holds them, snuggles them in blankets, pats their backs)
Like conversation (“What, Mom?” and when I tell her—“Oh wow. Cwazy.”)
Like relationships (touching everyone and smiling adorably, then spitting on them when she’s upset)
Like taking care of everyone (shutting cupboard doors after her brothers, handing out vitamins, comforting when someone is hurt, wanting to broom and launder and scrub)
Like femininity (loving purses and shoes almost before she could walk, flirting with her shoulders and eyes, fascination with the beautiful)
—How did she learn?
She copies motions I don’t even know I do. She prays to Jesus any moment of the day. She has a stronger will than her mother. She is completely innocent about the dangers of the world.
I’ve never done this before, and I don’t know what I’m doing. Do tell—what is crucial to the upbringing of a daughter?
Can’t answer your question!! All I know is I have 2 beautiful adult daughters that lived thru all my mistakes and ‘came out’ okay. Thanks be to the heavenly Father who can take feeble efforts, years of fumbling, repeated booboo’s, (but a huge desire to do well), and REDEEM!! He gets all the credit! And He will help you, too. That would be my piece of advice…depend a whole lot on Him. Maybe not a very measurable piece, but a piece none-the-less. BTW, I smiled or chuckled the whole way thru the blog. She’s such a woman!!
amen! to Mom Coblentz! and may she grow up feeling secure and loved by her Daddy! It has always amazes me how little girls know how to care for babies and love using the broom, sweeper, and mop!! (and they love telling their brothers what to do) You’re a great mom to this little lady!
Be sure to let me know once you have it all figured out because I have 4 daughters watching me and I too feel so inadequate. Mom Coblentz’s reply was very encouraging though – I think she gave us the key to godly mothering!
I’ll be reading the comments on this one. Because I have asked these questions myself many times!
Ahhhhhh……
This wild world of little ladies…I keep wondering how young a girl begins pms-ing!!!!!!!!!!????????? 🙂 You very well described how I feel as mom to my daughter and these feelings have only grown more vivid the older she gets.
Kelly has a beautiful role model, that I do know!
Ahh, I have 3 daughters, and am still figuring it out, because each one is so different!! But my oldest is 16, going on 17 (truly) and is someone I love to be with most of the time, so I think there is hope . . . she loves me in spite of my faults and I love her and together we both try to seek God’s will . . .