It's All About Tori - Part 3

Things we’ve taught (and didn’t teach) our daughter…

We DID teach her:

To sleep through the night. This was a particularly difficult task at the age of 2 when she thought it was ok to come crawl in bed with her totally exhausted and mostly unaware parents. We had to make up our minds, not hers. (great advice from my wise sister)

To share. Or to take turns which is the politically correct term these days. Also learned at the age of around 2 with her friends Shelbi and Emily. Man that girl could throw a fit! Shelbi and Emily could too for that matter. :)

To love God. We didn’t force her, though. We simply did what we could to guide her towards Him. She accepted Christ at the age of 5. We wholeheartedly believed she understood her decision. I think it’s safe to say that we were right.

To question. To question God and her parents, teachers and others who are teaching her anything . With respect, of course. Also, to question her faith. Periods of doubt will come. Embrace them and figure it out.

Seek wise counsel. That would usually be her parents. Ha! She has done a great job of finding a few, others, besides her parents, that will offer wise advice and encouragement.

To love others. Friends may come and go. Some have stuck pretty strong but friends are still no guarantee. Family is always there so “play nice”! And spend as much time with them as you can.

To love all. God created everyone. Every race. Every color. Every stage of life. Every human that walks the earth. He loves them all and so should she. And she does.

To nurture. She will be such a great mommy someday. I’m not sure if nurturing is taught or if it is inherently wired. But she’s got it. She understands and loves kids and they love her back!

To work hard. We don’t do lazy in this household. She knows how to clean the kitchen and scrub toilets. She knows how to clean her room and can do it at the speed of light.

To get dirty. She can certainly be a girly girl but she also loves to camp, hike, and doesn’t have to take a curling iron and make-up. She will avoid porta-potties if at all possible, though.

To do your best. Perfection is not attainable nor expected. Set the bar high but be realistic. Hopefully those around you will be realistic too.

To know and use your gifts. She has a pretty good handle on who she is and who she was created to bef. She knows her abilities and talents and she is aware of her limitations.

To serve. To serve locally and around the world. The doors for serving and helping others are always open and she’s more than willing to walk through them.

To play hard. She loves to laugh and have fun.

To cuddle. With her mom and dad or little sister on the couch watching a good movie. She’s never too old to do that!

To dream big. Nothing is impossible! Cliché, maybe, but it’s true. Go for it, baby.

We DIDN’T teach her:

How to sleep until noon! Not sure where that came from… She certainly got over that problem she had when she was 2. Maybe we taught her too well?

To fold fitted sheets. I’m pretty sure I’ve failed as a mom here. My mom tried to teach me but I can’t fold those stupid things so I wasn’t even going to begin to try to teach my kids how to. Just roll it up in a ball and stick it in the linen closet. Better yet, just wash it and put it right back on your bed.

To be grumpy in the mornings. That really only happens when she wakes up before noon. I will be warning her future husband and children for sure. No real conversations before 10am or so.

To love healthy food. She would much rather eat Hot Tamales (the candy). Tommy fixed me a wonderful dinner one year for my birthday and she cried through the whole meal. She knows how to eat healthy, so one day, maybe…..

To be adventurous. Well she is adventurous in some ways but she certainly loves the comforts of things she is accustomed to. She can take adventure in small doses. Can I just say, “Hong Kong Mall”???

To clean up puke. She is already telling me that I’m taking care of my grandkids when they get sick.

To make straight A’s and 4.0’s. Maybe it is genetic somehow but she is sooo smart and it seems to come so easy. I know I didn’t or couldn’t have possibly taught her that. Maybe Tommy did when I wasn’t paying attention.

I'm positive there are other thing we have taught her and didn't teach her but all in all, we've done good with this kid!

Tommy’s post yesterday made me cry. I’ve done a lot of that lately and I’m sure there’s plenty more to come. Happy tears because we’ve somehow, by the grace of God and a lot of hard work, done a great job with Tori and she is an amazing human being. Sad tears because things are changing and she’s grown up. She’ll always be my baby girl but it’s time for her to go out and live her life – her way.

But I’ve also done a lot of smiling lately. So many memories as I’ve reminisced through videos and pictures of Tori’s life. If the videos weren't all on ancient vhs format I might post a few. I may still if I have the time to transfer them over to this century's technology. But let me just say that Point of Grace had a big influence in her younger years.

She hasn’t really had a choice before whether she would spend her days with us or not. She now has a choice. I’m pretty confident that she’ll choose us every now and then and I’ll be incredibly thankful for every moment!