9 Lessons I’ve Learned From My 9-Year-Old

This weekend we are celebrating my youngest daughter’s birthday. I believe that people come into our lives to teach us something. This little girl of mine is constantly teaching me things that make me a better person. In honor of her birthday, I would like to share nine lessons I’ve learned from my 9-year-old.

9 Lessons I’ve Learned From My 9-Year-Old

1. Be patient: I am a naturally anxious person. When I was pregnant with her, I was told that she might not have any kidneys and a baby without kidneys cannot survive. My options were to wait or terminate the pregnancy. I decided to wait and my little girl was born with one kidney, which is all she needs to thrive. Patience paid off big time.
2. Lead with kindness: She is the kindest person I have ever met and she inspires kindness in others.
3. Be unabashedly yourself: She likes what she likes and if you don’t like it, she’s fine with that but she’s not going to pretend that she doesn’t like what she likes.
4. Be a good friend: She is supportive, trustworthy and incredibly loyal to her friends.
5. Use your imagination: Talk to yourself, tell yourself fun stories, play and be proud of your creativity.
6. Care passionately about your family: Her love for us is a thing of beauty. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said, “I just want my family to be happy.”
7. Be a gracious winner and a gracious loser: When she was running for student council, I was worried about how she would handle it if she lost until she told me, “I might not win and that’s OK, but I have to try because I might win.”
8. Be proud of yourself: It took her weeks to get 100 percent on one of her weekly spelling tests, but she was determined to do it. When she got her first 100 percent she shared the news with pride. It didn’t matter to her that other kids had gotten 100 percent multiple times before she did because she wasn’t comparing herself to them.
9. Enjoy your food: You should see her eat seaweed or any food that she likes a lot. She is messy about it and gets it all over her face without shame because she is so into it.

I can’t wait to learn all the lessons she has to teach me. I hope I can teach her a few things too.

Celebrating My 9-Year-Old

San Francisco, CA

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