Realizations

Today I had a realization about the way I was raised and how it affects me today.

(Disclaimer: My parents did their best and loved me dearly, and I can never thank them enough for giving me the gift of life. Love you Mom & Dad!)

Because I was given a lot of freedom to make my own choices, I (this is hard to believe) made some poor ones--drinking young, poor relationships, and lying to authority figures. But I have also made some pretty good decisions along the way, too--committing to my goals, following the Lord, and marrying Ryan. Now, I don't have the blessing of raising children yet, but it made me think about the way I wanted to raise my future children. I have so many ideas of how I want to teach them about the world, provide them structure, and show them love. I don't know if I will give my future children as much free reign as I had, but I do know that I want them to have a base structure to fall back on to make good decisions.

What kind of realizations have you had for raising kids? What kind of legacy do you want to leave with them? I would love to read some of your ideas. :)