we tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse.for my grandchildren, i’d know better.
i’d really like for them to know about hand-me-down clothes and home-made ice cream and leftover1 meatloaf. i really would.
my cherished grandson, i hope you learn humility2 by surviving failure and that you learn to be honest *n when no one is looking.
i hope you learn to make your bed and mow3 the lawn and wash the car -- and i hope nobody gives you a brand-new car when you are six*.
it will be good if at least one time you can see a baby calf4 born, and you have a good friend to be with you if you *r have to put your old dog to sleep.
i hope you get a black eye fighting for something you beli* in.
i hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. and it is all right to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he’s scared, i hope you’ll let him.
and when you want to see a disney movie and your kid brother wants to tag along, i hope you take him.
i hope you have to walk uphill with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.
if you want a slingshot, i hope your father teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. i hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books, and when you learn to use com*rs, you also learn how to add and subtract in your head.
i hope you get razzed by friends when you have your first crush on a girl, and that when you talk back to your mother you learn what ivory soap tastes like.
may you skin your knee clim*ng a mountain, burn your hand on the stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.
i hope you get sick when someone blows smoke in your face. i don’t care if you try beer once, but i hope you won’t like it. and if a friend offers you a joint5 or any drugs, i hope you are smart enough to realize that person is not your friend.
i sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your grandpa or go fishing with your uncle.
i hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through a neighbor’s window, and that she hugs you and kisses you when you give her a plaster of paris mold of your hand.
these things i wish for you -- tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.
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