To you, my child

Don't get any ideas, I do not have any children. None too, are on the way. Just something that someone said to me, "By the time a man realises his father was right, he has a son who thinks he is wrong." It got me thinking what I would tell my child

I know you want to grow up
Grow up as fast as you can
Yet, I ask you
To use this as a lesson in patience
Growing takes time
There will be times when you grow on the outside
And times when you grow on the inside
Both are needed
No amount of hurrying will lessen that time.

I know you want to talk like older people
Use words that they use
Yet, I ask you
To not tax your tongue
Into saying what you don’t understand
Words are precious and powerful
Take your time learning the words,
Learning their meanings,
So you can really mean what you say.

I know you want to look like an adult
Wear clothes like them
Yet, I ask you
To think through before you dress
Ask yourself -
Am I comfortable in these?
Is this appropriate for the occasion?
As sad and unfair as it is, clothes do make a man
Doors open or shut depending on what you wear.

I know you don't want to listen
To parents, when you have friends
Yet I ask you to stop and listen
Listen to the love and concern in their voices and words
Listen to their knowing of the world around you
They have experience, you haven't yet earned.
They have lived longer than you, learned a thing or two
You don’t have to do like they did
But stop and converse with them.

When all is said and done
It matters not how fast you grew
but how steady a person you are
It matters not how many adult words you use
but how your words made the other feel
It matters not how fashionable you were
but how elegant your spirit is
It matters not how many friends you have
but how many touched your soul
It matters not if you didn’t do what your parents did
but how well you did what you do
It’s about how tall you can stand
When there is no applause.

Loving you always