My daughter loves Valentine’s Day. She loves choosing the perfect cards to hand out to her classmates. She loves watching the special Valentine’s Day episodes of her favorite shows. She loves baking Valentine’s Day cookies with me and decorating them with extra sprinkles.
Recently we did some online shopping and she picked out a special “Love” shirt to wear on Valentine’s day. We started talking about what love meant, and I found myself stumbling over the words to accurately describe love and its true depth to a six-year-old. That night, as I was sitting in silence for the first time all day, I thought about my hopes and dreams for all my kids as they grow up and look for a loving relationship.
It took me a few failed relationships to know what I actually wanted in a partner in life and what I hope they can one day find…
Find someone who will love you unconditionally even on your bad days, and lift you up when you need it the most. Find someone who will sit with you in the hard times, the dark times, and the uncertain times. Find someone who will validate your feelings and make you feel heard. Find someone who will reassure you things will get better, and who finds hope when you need it the most.
Find someone who will laugh with you but never at you. Find someone who believes in your dreams and ambitions just as much as you do. Find someone who is passionate, humble, and hard working. Find someone you respect who respects you too. Find someone who chooses kindness above all and knows how to treat others.
This is my hope for my children. That they will find someone just like that.
It’s easy to get swept up in the idea of a fairytale romance like we see in movies, and lose sight of what truly matters in a relationship. Things like appearance and how much money someone may have change over the years and are not concretes like so many other traits. I will instill in my children that your character and how you treat others are way more important then fancy cars or big houses.
I hope all of my children find love one day, in the very distant future, but for now I will love them fiercely and raise them to be good humans who know how to treat others.
