Things I want for Maybelle

This isn't a holiday wish for her, but a general non-purchasable life wish.  I want Maybelle to experience her family as a space where she never has to worry that she'll be good enough.  As I type it, this seems like no big deal, and yet I know that many people don't have this experience as kids.  Some of my friends worried as children that things they did wouldn't be impressive enough.  They had little mini-agonies of wondering how to keep their parents' attention, how to make their parents proud.

I'm really fortunate that this wasn't my experience as a kid.  With the exception of my brief time playing softball (something at which I was very unskilled, but also--and this is the key--about which I had a terrible attitude), I knew that everything I did my parents would think was great.  This was so true that I would sort of roll my eyes at their praise, thinking, "Yeah, that's because they're my parents."  But this didn't mean that the praise was meaningless to me.  I counted on the fact that they'd legitimately enjoy the theater and dance performances I took part in.  I never doubted their enjoyment.  I just thought this was what it meant to be a parent:  you were absolutely head over heels with the stuff your kids did.  This wasn't just true for me but for Trey and Aaron, too (I'd be interested in knowing if this is their perception, but it was mine, watching my parents looking at Trey's drawings or Aaron's performances).

The thing I've realized now is that this isn't just an automatic parental response.  It's a choice, and it's important.  So it's something I'm committed to providing for her.