Letter I Wish My Three-Year-Old Would Give Me For Mother's Day

A Mother’s Day wish — an apology letter “penned” by a toddler — resonates with one Valley mom

I came across this “Letter I Wish My Three-Year-Old Would Give Me For Mother’s Day” and it was so delightfully relatable — I mean, can all three-year-olds really be that similar?! — that I wanted to share, if not for the commiseration, than for a good laugh.

The thing that really sticks with me about it, though, is how true it all is. I really believe that if Coraline had the emotional and social intelligence of an adult, she would say those things. But of course, she’s three, and so can’t. I have to just know them to be true, which is harder than you’d think.

I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot lately: this idea that the onus lies solely on us as the parent to shift and change — to be better — in order to transform a difficult parenting dynamic. Because, regardless of how frustrating and exhausting little ones are, 95 percent of the time they’re exactly as they should be: impulsive, emotional, needy tiny humans still learning the ropes of this complicated and intense world.

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And while it’s important to teach them that it’s okay to make mistakes and that forgiveness does go a long way (as I wrote in my post a couple weeks ago), it always comes back to us — the parent — having to be the bigger person. Because we are, for now.

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