I'll never....

I know I may regret this post someday, so rather than saying "I'll never do these things" let's keep it to "I'll try not to do these things."

1. Say "shut up" to my child. I realize that for some people it's just another form of "be quiet" or "hush" but to me there is a world of difference.

2. Make her feel like she has to compete/live up to DH or me. We've both been quite successful in life, I hope the same for our child, but I fully realize success can take any number of different paths.

3. Make her feel her self-worth depends on her appearance. While I will never pretend that appearance doesn't matter, I hope to be able to raise her to understand that ultimately perseverance, kindness and humor will get you most places you need to go.

What I will have a harder time with:

4. Not trying to push her into music. I will have a hard time comprehending if our child doesn't love music.

5. Embracing a love of sports. If she loves it, I'll try to love it too, but I know I'll have difficulty getting it.

I know that this list will grow to be much longer. I've really just started thinking about it. But that will suffice for tonight.