I don’t want you to grow up normal. I don’t want you to think that the only way to relieve a broken heart is a prescription for a bottle of pills. I want you to feel that hurt, to remember it… and if it was your fault too, I want you to fix that, and not do it again. I want you to learn and not depend on outside stimuli to get you through life.

I don’t want you to grow up normal. To feel that a standardized test is a true measure of your worth and that grades are what define you. I want you to spend time helping other people, growing and learning in your own time. To know that a helping hand to one in need is sometimes worth far more than a test score.

I don’t want you to grow up normal. To never leave the house without your hair brushed and styled just right. I want you to enjoy every moment of your life and sometimes just toss that hair in a quick messy bun and run out the door on your way to another adventure. You don’t have to be anything but uniquely you.

I don’t want you to grow up normal. I don’t want you to fall into any category but your own. If you want to work with your dad on cars and go to school with stained up hands, then do it! I want you to be exactly who you are! You be who you want. You will have boobs one day, but you are a mechanic? Then go out there and do it, to hell with gender stereotypes!

I don’t want you to grow up normal. To believe that zero tolerance is the absolute key to everything. If that boy hits you again on the bus, my girl, you give that boy a whoopin’ he wont forget instead of just taking it and reporting it later. Sometimes you need to run and tell a teacher, and sometimes you just can’t- so you deal with it yourself. Never start fights, and never abuse anyone…but if someone starts one with you, end it. I will deal with the school.

I don’t want you to grow up normal. To believe that celebrities on magazines are more colorful, talented or beautiful than you. A celebrity is just a person, no better than you. They hurt, they smile, they laugh, and they feel…just like you do. Respect them for the passion they have for the great work that they do, but put no one on a pedestal, just because they are popular. Choose your friends the same way, my dear girl.

I don’t want you to grow up normal. To believe that the only way to live a good life is to get a job you hate and slave away at it. I want you to CREATE a job that you love. That fills your soul with passion and work at that.

I don’t want you to grow up normal. I don’t want you to believe that your only option is heading off to college to rack up debt when you are only just beginning your life. I want you to go out there and live for a little bit. Travel if you can, go do whatever it is you want to do for a while. THEN when you are good and ready, and know what it is you want to do then go do it! Do it when you are ready, not when society dictates you should be ready.

I don’t want you to grow up normal. I want you to stand out. To sing in the rain when you feel like and not care a whit about what anyone else thinks. I want you to be one hundred percent YOU! So don’t grow up normal. Grow up right, my daughter