An open letter to my unborn child

Dear you, At this moment it is the 5th of January, 2017. As of 1 hour ago I am 13 weeks pregnant with you. You are the size of a jalepeno, a large macaroon, or a clownfish, take your pick. It is 1:00 AM. Yesterday was ROUGH. I woke up feeling sad. At first I wasn't sure why. I convinced myself it was because of the weather, or maybe I was just feeling hormonal. Up to this point, as your father will confirm, I HAVE had a tendency to over react, randomly cry over videos of puppies, yell at him because the dog upstairs is snoring to loud and that's somehow his fault.(It's not, of course.).. Anyway, I'm rambling, back to the point. It wasn't till around 4:00 PM that I realized why I was actually sad. I was in the middle of puking my guts out. (Thanks for that (; ) It suddenly hit me. I'm sad because I realized that you are going to have to deal with a LOT of stuff. Now, I don't mean to freak you out, cause it's all stuff you are fully capable of handling, and your father and I are going to be there for you every step of the way. But, life is hard. My first wish for you, is that you enjoy the years you have to be young and foolish while you have them. Don't be in a hurry to grow up. I know how it is. As you get older you realize how hard it is to have parents, teachers, and even some friends. tell you what you can and can't do. You'll want to kick and scream and tell them that you are big enough to make your own choices and that you can't wait until you are an adult and have nobody to answer to. If only you knew.. I'll probably say that phrase to you over and over again in your lifetime. But I want you to know that it's only because when you grow up, and you get to be my age, you'll look back and you will kick and scream and tell yourself that you should have enjoyed it while you could. Now, my second wish. growing up is seriously ROUGH. I sincerely hope that life will be easy for you, but, most likely, there will be times that you will think that whatever you are going through will be the hardest thing to ever happen to you and it will feel like the end of the world. It won't be. Once you get through said "tough thing", you'll suddenly realize how small it actually was. That being said, DON'T GIVE UP. I can personally tell you that there have been times where I have come to the end of my rope. I have felt that end of the world feeling. I know what it's like to lay on the floor, feeling like nothing will ever make this better. The feeling of wanting to give up, it's scary. But, fight it. Cry it out, that's fine. Take the night, soak in all the feelings, but no matter what happens, Pick yourself up off the floor, and keep going. My third wish for you, is this, make as MANY friends as you possibly can. But also as you get older, remember this, Quality over Quantity. It is far better to have a couple of genuine friends, than to have many fake friends. Real friends will treat you with respect. When they have an issue with you, they will work it out with YOU. Fake friends have a tendency to pretend everything is fine, but tell everyone else that it isn't. Real friends are there for you not just when you are at your best, but they will also be there at your worst. Fake friends will abandon ship at the first sign of trouble, and randomly appear when things are good again. It is SO hard, to identify who is real and who is fake. Unfortunately, it takes quite a bit of trial and error. It will hurt like hell. You will have people come into your life who you think are there for the long haul, and suddenly, they will be out of your life completely. That being said, don't just cut people out of your life without giving them a couple chances to redeem themselves. Some real friends do fake friend things in a moment of weakness, be sure to forgive those friends. I'm sure this is all very confusing, and I wish I could give you the answer to everything, but unfortunately, when it comes to human beings, every one is different, and there's no "one size fits all" solution. You're just going to have to use your best judgement. My fourth wish, is that you learn to be kind. I wish I could say that I've always been fantastic in this particular department, but that would be a lie. If there is one regret I have in my life, It's all the times that I have been less than kind. Learn to accept others based off of their personalities as opposed to what they look like, who they know, what they wear, or how different they are. Some of the most genuine people I know are people that at one point I looked at them and said to myself "What will other people think?" I HATE my past self for doing that. I missed out on a lot of really good times that I could have had, had I let them in sooner. Always seek out those who are alone, because everyone deserves to have a friend. Imagine the difference you could make in someone's life by taking 10 minutes to have a conversation with them. Treat everyone with the same amount of respect you'd like to be treated with. Never think that you are above anyone, stay humble. Never say anything unkind to someone in a moment of anger, if you do, make sure that you apologize. When you do something to hurt someone, don't put off your apology, especially if that person means something to you. There have been too many times that I've lost out on a valuable friendship with someone, simply because I couldn't swallow my pride and admit that I was wrong. Pride is such a dangerous weapon, don't let it get the best of you. Stand up for people. Now, I'm not saying that you should go and get into a fist fight. But don't be afraid to stand up for someone when everyone else is being mean. Now, I can't stress enough the importance of this next part. I don't care if the people taking about someone behind their back or to their face are your friends. Next time you overhear a conversation about someone else, don't be afraid to defend them. I want you to imagine how you would feel if someone was saying about you, the things they are saying about someone else.(please remember this before you say anything about anyone else as well) If they respond poorly, I can pretty much guarantee you, when you look back at that moment, you will never regret standing up for someone the way you'll regret it if you don't. It may seem strange that I'm writing all this while you are only the size of a jalepeno, but, these are things that I hope to instill in you while you are still young. Because the habit of being unkind, is a habit that is so hard to break. My next wish for you is a little different. I want you to live every single moment you are given. Feel the sun on your face. Enjoy the smell outside when it's just rained. Eat weird things. Do things you are afraid of doing. Learn everything you can, and apply it. Be grateful for everything you've been blessed to experience. Feel every feeling as deeply as you possibly can. Put all you have into everything you love. Follow your heart, and work toward your dreams. Dream as big as you possibly can, and make it happen. Nothing is going to fall into your hands, you're going to have to work for it, but I PROMISE the harder you work, the more meaningful it will be for you. Now, there are about a thousand wishes I have for you, seriously, I could go on forever. But i'll end this letter with one last wish for you. ALWAYS be yourself. People will try so hard to dim your shine. When that happens, shine brighter. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about you. If you are truly who YOU are, you'll be happy. Some wise person somewhere once said "Those who mind, don't matter. And those who matter, don't mind." I believe that with all my heart. People who don't want anything to do with you when you are being yourself, aren't worth your time. Don't sell yourself short to please someone else, because I promise if you do that, you'll never be happy with your life. Don't sacrifice your own personal values, and beliefs for the sake of someone else. Stand for what you feel is right. Never back down, never surrender. Now, I know I'm just your Mother, and no matter how often I tell you this, it won't seem like enough. But your Father and I love you more than you could possibly know. That love will NEVER go away. There isn't anything you could do or say that will change that. We want the world for you. And although sometimes you'll hate us, please remember that we are there for you through whatever. Don't be afraid to come to us with problems, feelings, the truth, ANYTHING. I love you to the moon and back, you're our everything from here to mars. With Unconditional Love, Your Mom.