My ten commitments to you
Letters to my baby: letter two
Em bé ơi,
Today is your first birthday. You’re sleeping peacefully beside me, your tiny little body rising and falling with each breath. This is it. This is life now, a life I hadn’t anticipated but can’t imagine any other way.
I’ve been thinking about this day since the moment you were born. And now, just like that, it’s here. Where did the time go? Soon enough, you’ll be walking, running, going to school, making friends, carving your own path.
I’ve also been thinking about “parenting,” a word that used to mean little to me but now carries so much weight. A word that’s both casual and serious, simple and complicated, familiar and foreign. It’s personal, open to interpretation. Kind of like the word “living.”
As I look at you, sleeping here - so real - I can’t help but ask myself: “What kind of parent do I want to be?” Because your well-being, your future, and the impact you’ll have on the people in your life depend greatly on it. It’s a lot of pressure, but the kind of pressure I need, especially now. It’s time to pull myself together and become who I need to be. If not for me, then for you.
Because parenting is just as much about you as it is about me. It’s about being my best so I can serve you best. It’s about setting an example, through both my actions and my being.
For that reason, I have many commitments I want to make to both myself and to you. But why don’t we start with ten?
1. I commit to prioritizing calm and relaxation, knowing that stress makes me less patient and more reactive.
2. I commit to managing my emotions maturely and thoughtfully, allowing myself to feel without reacting immediately and giving myself space to process.
3. I commit to being true to myself and living authentically, without worrying about how it looks to others, even when it means being vulnerable or making unpopular choices.
4. I commit to treating everyone with kindness while being selective about who to keep in our circle.
5. I commit to prioritizing you and our family, including the dogs, and to taking good care of your grandmother as she grows older.
6. I commit to fulfilling my obligations, especially to those who supported me in the past, and to those I still owe.
7. I commit to rebuilding my life work that brings both personal fulfillment and financial freedom.
8. I commit to spending less time contemplating life, as I’ve done so much of, and more time actually living it.
9. I commit to finding the right balance in parenting you: between keeping you safe and allowing you to explore, between fostering secure attachment and giving you the freedom to build independence, between being present with you in your emotions and guiding you toward your goals.
10. I commit to lighting up whenever I see you.
But remember, my love, just like you, I’m human. I can’t promise perfection, but I can promise to give you my very best.
Happy 1st birthday, my angel.
Mẹ yêu em
In 2023, after becoming pregnant with my daughter. I decided to wipe my Instagram clean and stepped away from the world. Now, as my daughter turns one, I feel ready to reengage. Follow me on Instagram as I rebuild my feed and my life.