I read an article today that made me reflect on my life, my parents and the kind of parent I want to be.  My Mummy shared with me recently that you know you’ve raised your children well when they do better than you.  So when I read this article and looked around my family and friends, we’ve all been pretty fortunate to have parents who have done so very well.

Me and my sister for one, are afforded choices my mother and especially my grandmother never had.  Thanks to my parents who gave us just what the writer of the article had – love, encouragement and an unbreakable work ethic.  Together, my Daddy and Mummy, balanced each other out to show us by example that you can dream as big as you want, you have to work as hard to achieve it, they will be there every step of the way and even if it all fails, they’ll still love us.  And by that, love wasn’t always hugs and kisses.  Hard love though very very seldom had it’s place in my household.  I’m grateful for the rare moments it had to show it’s ugly head.

So this post is one where I hope my family and friends will resend to me if I forget and become one of those parents I constantly complain about.  I want to give my children all they need to build hearts that will think up their most ambitious dreams yet temper it with the sound and open mind that will help them implement the plans to make these dreams real.  We’re going to have good days and there’ll be bad ones but as long as the journey is filled with love and support, as a family, we’ll be able to take on what else life will throw at us.  Lord knows, life has a very strange way of doing just that – throwing you curve balls when you least expect it.

My sister and I are far from perfect but that’s all my parents have done, their best to make sure we have choices, built our ability to follow through with them and most of all, they taught us, life some times just doesn’t quite go as plan.  The strength in our characters doesn’t come from when we achieve our dreams, it flourishes when we don’t achieve them yet keep on going to make other dreams happen.  Some thing I’m learn everyday from my little sister too … so yes, I want more than one kid because as much as great my parents are, the other half of me was built by my sister.

That said, my parents pretty much kick ass at parenting.  I only pray I’ll do half as well as them, if not, my kids will be lucky to have great grandparents who show them how it’s all done … just that their grandparents might spoil them a little too much :p