From The Mouth of Babes

My beautiful 14 year old daughter had a few strong opinions about her peers and family love. I was interested in hearing her thoughts and gave her a guest spot on my blog. Her writing is poignant and speaks of a wisdom beyond her years. Please read, enjoy, and share.🙏🏽💙

In this day and age, iphones are the norm. Everyone has them, from a third grader to grandparents. The sense of having everything at your fingertips numbs you to the world and to all of the blessings you have, especially for teenagers. Teenagers in my generation are the biggest “victims” of this effect, we have grown up with social media, the internet, being able to go anywhere and have access to anything. And that ability to do that has prevented us from seeing what we have been given and what we should value. So, how does this relate to Valentines Day? Well, when most kids are asked what Valentine's Day is or what it means they either say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘It’s meant for couples, and if you aren’t dating then you can’t celebrate’. Then they would usually go back to their phones and totally disregard the fact that there are more types of love than just sexual, or romantic. 

Familial love is the first love that everyone feels, from the moment that you lay eyes on your mother and father in the hospital. As children get older, they seem to forget the fact that if their parents were not together at some point they would not be alive. As children get older the phrase ‘I hate my parents’ becomes more said, and the more parents are treated as objects instead of someone who helps you survive on a daily basis. All around me I hear, ‘my mother never leaves me alone’, ‘if my parents don’t give me what I want, I throw a fit’, ‘parents are only meant to give you things, why work for it yourself?’, ‘Oh my god mom, just shut up’ and so forth. These parents that have always done so much for you and have gone through troubles for you from the moment you were born to the moment that you move out and find a spouse, will always be there. Just because your parents don’t buy you that crop top in Charlotte Russe, doesn’t mean that they should not be celebrated and honored. So this Valentines Day, take the time to think about your first love: your family. Go out, buy some chocolate and some flowers, write a card, give a hug and a kiss, get off your phone, and say: “I love you mom and dad”. Call your grandparents and your siblings, even the cousins that you don’t usually talk to and you only see at the awkward family barbecues, and say: “Happy Valentines Day.” Because that’s what real love is.