When It All Started

Me at the age of 3 months, 5 yrs old, and 7 yrs old.

Ladies and fellas, make sure you are filling your child up with positive thoughts about him/herself. Tell your daughter that she’s beautiful and your son that he’s handsome. Let them know that they are more than enough and that they have everything they need to succeed in life. Support them and show them that you genuinely care about them and their well-being. This is what a child desires, no scratch that this is what a child needs to grow up to be an individual who values and loves him/herself. Don’t speak defeat over their life, because this may hinder them from seeing the true potential they possess.

Growing up my mom would always tell me that I was pretty, but in the same breath she would say, “Pretty fades you need to have something in your mind. If you're just pretty you will get taken advantage of. You have to be smart.” Maybe this is why she started reading and talking to me as soon as she found out she was pregnant. I was in her stomach but I heard every word, as a result I begin talking at the early age of 8 months. Every day my mom would sit me down and read books to me. The reading helped to build my vocabulary skills. When I started the Primary School I read so many books that my mom had to request books to be sent from other libraries to the library in my hometown, because I had read all the books on my grade level as well as all the books on the next two grade levels ahead of mine.

In addition to pushing me to be a smart individual, my mother made sure I was respectful to adults and treated others nicely. If I felt like an adult was out of line, I was told to never talk back to them but to tell her once I got home and she would handle it. I seen my mother as a superhero. There was never a bump or bruise she couldn’t heal with peroxide and neosporin, or never a time when she couldn’t nurse me back to good health with chicken noodle soup and ginger ale. She was there for me on my good days and on my bad ones and still is. There’s absolutely nothing she cannot do, from cooking to filing taxes, to sewing, to real-estate, to teaching, and many other things. She taught me the importance of having my own and valuing myself as well as my loved ones and others that I come into contact with in life.

What I love the most about my mom is her integrity. Believe it or not, you can’t teach your child to do things one way if they see you do things the total opposite way, you can but this method isn't very effective. No one is perfect because life is not a fairytale, however it is imperative for your child to see you setting the best possible example of the way to treat others. Not just friends or family members but even strangers and the ones who do you wrong. Integrity will love unconditionally, not look down upon, and will always be honest but know when to move forward. I’ve never heard my mom sit around and gossip and talk about others, she doesn’t do it because it’s not in her character therefore I’m the same way. I have so many important things to do other than talk about other people. I don’t like to deal in or be around negativity.

The integrity my mom has allows her to be respectful to individuals who have mistreated her. When I first seen this I didn’t understand it but when my mom explained to me that it takes more energy to be upset with someone than to forgive and move forward, it made more sense to me. She would say, “I have so much going on in my life that I don’t have time to be upset with them.” This is funny but so real at the same time.

What are you teaching your children? What do you say to fill them up and make them feel like they can accomplish all their dreams? Have you created a bond with them? Are you their biggest cheerleader? Love on your children, and be mindful that they’re watching you!

​Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.
-H Jackson Brown Jr.

I hope this blesses someone. Until next time loves xoxoxo!

​Trish 

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She believed she could, so she did.