"I Want To Be A Mommy When I Grow Up!"

Last night, our baby girl graduated from 3-year-old play school.  As the children received their diplomas, the teacher shared what they had told her they want to be when they grow up.  There were several aspiring police officers and construction workers, a doctor, a ballerina, and then my girl...  who wants to be a mommy when she grows up.  She has shared this dream with me in the past, but hearing it never fails to warm my heart, especially when "I want to be a mommy," is followed with, "just like you."  Looking into those sparkly blue eyes and seeing that smile of pure adoration...  Wow!

It's uplifting and humbling all at the same time.  On the one hand, I love being her role model, the person to whom she looks and thinks, "That's what I want to be like."  I feel pretty amazing knowing this kid thinks so highly of me, and it encourages me to shush that little part of me that tends to find fault with everything I do.  I mean, if I was totally messing up this "Mommy" thing, surely she wouldn't aspire to take on such a crummy job.  I must be doing something very right!  But - here's where the humbling part happens - I haven't yet managed to fully squelch that part of me that reviews the day critically and finds so many moments when I should have said or done something differently, and that part of me wants to tell her, "No, honey...  Don't be a mommy just like me.  There are a few things you should do differently, better...  because I fumble all the time.  Maybe you don't notice, but I do.  And I want you to be better.  I want me to be better."  Uplifting, humbling, and challenging is this hope of hers.

So yeah...  My little girl wanting to be a mommy like me is the sweetest thing I heard last night.  Sweeter than her singing, sweeter than her thanking her Daddy for the flowers he brought her.  Sweeter than her brother clapping, sweeter than his "See Eggy" as I literally pulled him by his shirt to keep him from running to her.

I know there are feminists enough who would lash me for not having instilled a higher level of ambition in my daughter.  To them, I say, "Yeah, whatever.  She's not even four.  Get over it."  I fully intend to raise my daughter to know that she is capable of pursuing whatever career on which she sets her little heart.  I may have to make some exceptions, like if she wants to be a singer and has a voice like nails on a chalkboard, but as a general rule, I do believe she, like her brothers, has a whole world of options open to her, and I will encourage her to seek God's will and follow the passions He places within her heart.

But for now, wanting to be a mommy is the perfect dream for her, and I hope it comes true.  I hope she grows to know the same amazing world I am coming to know more intimately with each passing day.  While I might wish her a little less sleep deprivation and fewer frazzled days than I have known, I wish her all the joy and laughter and wonder and love of watching her babies grow.  I wish her a husband who will love and cherish her in ways she never would have guessed she would need.  And I wish her a little girl as full of spunk and tenderness as she is herself, who will look into her eyes one day and say, "When I grow up, I want to be a mommy, just like you!"