Ami looks back on the first year with her darling baby boy and looks forward to an amazing life full of all the wonderful things she wants most for him. A mother’s promises to her little man…

You are one now. Where did the year go?

I remember when you were still in my tummy, I used to imagine what you would be like when you were born… what would you look like? What would your first word be? What would make you giggle? Most importantly, would you be healthy and happy?

Now here we are one year later. I feel so blessed to have been gifted a beautiful, healthy and happy boy. I find myself still wondering what you will be like in the years to come. Every day you are growing, learning, discovering. You are becoming such a little man. You amaze me and bring joy to my heart in ways I never thought was possible. It really is true that there is no love stronger than a mothers love.

I also find myself wondering what type of mother I will be through the years… more importantly what type of mother I HOPE to be. I wanted to write you this letter so you would always know just how much I love you and to make you a few promises:

1. I promise to teach you how to cook. Every man should know how to cook. It will help you impress the ladies, but more importantly it will save you from living off of hotdogs and mac and cheese when you move out (or in your daddy’s case chips).

2. I promise to teach you manners. Yes, please and thank you are important, but I mean the more important type of manners… like holding the door open for people, or offering to help someone carry their groceries. The types of things that help remind me that there are still good people in this world.

3. I promise to help you dream big and follow those dreams. Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something, or can’t be who/what you want to be. Follow your heart and believe in yourself, it will always lead you on the right path.

4. I promise to teach you how to love, accept, and forgive others. There is zero tolerance for bullying in our family. Regardless the reason, there is never an excuse to pick on someone else or think you have the right to cast judgement on another. Empathy and compassion are invaluable.

5. I promise to teach you how to clean and pick up after yourself. Nobody wants to live with a slob. Period. This is also a gift for your future wife/partner.

6. I promise to tell you I love you every day (even when you don’t want to hear it).

7. I promise to always have an open door policy. You can come and talk to me about anything, anytime. I promise there is nothing you can ever tell me that would make me stop loving you.

8. I promise to always let you pick what you want to do/eat for your birthday. You get one day a year that is all about you… I say if you want to eat cake for breakfast that day, go for it!

9. I promise to wake you up randomly in the middle of the night so you can watch the first snow fall, or see a full moon.

10. I promise to take you camping and teach you how to make octopuses and let you play with sparklers.

11. I promise to let you explore. Even if it’s scary and I am afraid you will get hurt.

12. I promise to always take care of you when you are sick (and bring you coloring books/movies/popsicles).

13. I promise to take you skating, tobogganing, skiing… and whatever other winter activities you want, even though I really dislike the cold and the winter.

14. I promise to let you splash in the puddles and dance in the rain, and to be right there with you.

15. I promise to teach you how to build the best forts and have sleepovers in them.

16. I promise to not embarrass you by showing up at your school in my pjs or blaring what I consider “cool” music in the car (I can’t make the same promise about your dad).

17. I promise to take you to see the ocean.

18. I promise to help you with your homework.

19. I promise to watch the same movies with you and read the same books a million times.

20. I promise to always be your biggest fan and loudest cheerleader.

I am sure there will be many things I want to add to this list as the years go on, but those are things that are on my mind tonight, as I think of the years ahead. I can’t promise I will always be a perfect mom; in fact I am sure I will make a ton of mistakes along the way. I am sure there will be many times I drive you crazy, embarrass you, make you angry… but I hope you will always remember that there is nobody in this world who will ever love you more than I do. That is a promise.

– Ami, Parsnips and Pears