I love my daughter and she doesn't know why

Moms love unconditionally. It’s our calling, our honor.

I tell my kids I love them. I show them with considerable squeezes in inopportune moments, or so they say. I am sure my daughter, in particular, doesn’t know why I love her, just that I do.

Dear daughter,
There are so many things I love about you.

I love how passionate you are about all things theater.
I laugh that you, my reserved girl, will bust out a joke, to our surprise and delight.
I adore that you have no idea how beautiful you are when you smile.
I am thankful that we are opposite in many ways: we learn from one another.

I admire how you make athletics look effortless, yet couldn’t care less about competition.
I dig how one leg is longer than the other, so it appears you have sass 24/7.
I love it when you leave one single berry so that someone else gets to finish them (sort of).
I bow down to you because you don’t worry.

I am proud to know thinking ahead is a challenge for you, but you’ve set a big goal for the future anyway.
I delight in hearing you sing.
I love that if I want to watch a movie, you are always down to join me.
I am thankful that “drama queen” is seldom in your vocabulary.

I love how black and white you are. There is no gray for you.
I relish the fact that you don’t perform for applause, but for the joy it brings you.
I praise you for your heart always being in the right place.
I love that you were a snuggler in the womb and it hasn’t changed.

I’m thrilled that you’ve “found your peeps.”
I applaud that you live in the present.
I take great pleasure in your quiet confidence.
I commend you for keeping things to yourself.

I love when we hold a car concert, you have no judgment about my singing.
I enjoy that you like to escape into a book, like me.
I’m excited to know you are beginning to discover who you are.