I promise to ....
"Promise" is a big word. It's like the word "love". You don't throw it around lightly. You should only say it when you mean it and when you know you can and will hold to it.
A promise to a child is something special. And I as anticipate the birth of my daughter, I think of what her life will be like. I think of what I will be like as a father.
I think about what our relationship will be like.
As with any father-daughter relationship, I know it will have its joys. And it will have its tears. We will have moments when we want to strangle each other - but I hope we will have moments when we absolutely want to hug each other, hear the other say "I love you," or just play with her Barbies. I hope those moments outnumber the others by far.
So as I think about those moments and look forward to meeting her, hearing her laugh, seeing her smile, and her mother and I raising her, I make these promises to my baby girl:
- I promise to nurture you
- I promise to make time for you
- I promise to hug you
- I promise to show you Star Wars every chance I get
- I promise to God that I will raise you in a good Christian manner to follow his word
- I promise to let you be yourself
- I promise to tell you about your family who isn't here
- I promise to listen to you -- about your thoughts, opinions, dreams and any questions you may have
- I promise to tell you I love you every chance I get, and more
- I promise to give you space when you want it - but I won't be far away
- I promise to be skeptical of every guy that you ever like
- I promise to be your safe place
- I promise to never make fun of you (although we can find a healthy medium for picking on each other)
- I promise to encourage you to follow your dreams
- I promise to make decisions that you may not like, but will be in your best interest
- I promise to protect you and your mommy
- I promise to never dress you in garnet
- I promise to spend daddy-daughter time with you
- I promise to never break your heart
- I promise that I will be the best daddy I can possibly be
- I promise to be there for you - to support you, to teach you, and to laugh with you, not at you
- I promise to do things that will embarrass you as a teenager
- I promise not to have a problem with the man of your dreams loving you - but I don't think I will ever be able to give you entirely away because you have stolen my heart and you haven't even been born yet
- I promise to be there as you walk down the aisle
- And above all, I promise to love you forever and with all my heart
Love, Daddy
