A letter to my 16-year-old daughter
by Betsy Shaw posted in Parenting
Dear daughter,
I just want to let you know I think you're doing a great job being you. It's not easy being a teenager. I remember. It's pretty brutal.
Yet you are doing amazingly well.
I see you prepare yourself, ever so subtly, before you grab all your things and get out of the car at school each morning. And, no matter your mood, you hold your head up and march straight into the sea of your peers, each one bracing themselves for the day's test, to go about your day.
I know it's not easy. I remember, with the perspective of hindsight, the courage it took to exist inside the social and academic pressure cooker of high school, and not lose sight of who I was. I didn't really succeed. I realize you can't yet know exactly who you are, that's a lifelong lesson in self discovery. But from the outside, it sure looks and feels like you are succeeding in being true to yourself. I see you handling your life, your friends, their lives, and all the romantic drama that comes with adolescent girlhood, with compassion, respect, patience, wisdom, and humility.
I see you navigating your schoolwork, not without struggle and a certain amount of anxiety, but with a self-direction and discipline I never displayed.
I see you appreciating the jobs your teachers do and take interest in most of the subjects you're learning. I don't remember ever having the perspective, the maturity, to realize that teachers and academic subjects could be interesting, inspiring...
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