I love my daughter

I love my daughter. I can’t seem to say this often enough. When I discover that I was pregnant, I was quite apprehensive. To be honest, I didn’t think I wanted a girl. Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of females around me, so I didn’t really know how to relate to young females. When I had my ultrasound, and the result showed I was having a girl, I didn’t know how to react. I set about preparing for her arrival. While shopping for clothes and baby things, I began to feel closer to my daughter. By the time she was born, I was eager and ready to meet her. I wanted to meet this amazing human who had shared my body for about 9 months. Despite been too weak from natural labor, I tried to stay up long enough to see her face. Her father was ecstatic, but what I felt seeing my daughter for the first time is indescribable. I felt like holding her, keeping her safe in arms, and shielding her from every bad person. Seeing her triggered something in me. It felt like a well of emotions was unlocked in me, and I wanted to shower her with all of my emotions. I knew I could hurt anyone who would lay a hand on her. Not really perfect. My daughter is all grown up now, and I still love her as fiercely as I did the first time I saw her. This doesn’t mean we don’t have our ups and downs. She is an amazing human being with a strong mind. She is like me in a lot of ways, so you can imagine that we did butt heads a lot. She has my personality, and even as an adult, I see a lot of myself in her. Every major stage of her life was a lesson for me. We used to butt heads over her clothes, choice of music, and friends. It wasn’t because I didn’t respect her choices; it was because I saw myself in her. Despite all the fear and head butting, she turned out really great. I have seen the things she has done, and I am amazed at how much of me she has in her. I love my daughter. I have loved her from her tiny fingers and toes to her bold statements. I loved the baby she was, even as a baby, she was opinionated. She knew what she wanted to eat and even wear. I loved the toddler she was. Quite determined and a leader. I loved the teenager she was. She was headstrong and competitive. I cannot count the number of times we fought over what she wanted versus what I thought she should want. I love the woman she is today. She is amazing. Still headstrong, competing on a larger scale, gathering wins, and breaking records. Most importantly, she has built a family for herself, doing more than I can imagine. I am proud of her.