Lesson Five

   “You are the company you Keep”

It took a little thought (which is a little harder these days) to figure out what I was going to expound on. The obvious comes to mind, don't hang out with jerks if you don;t want to become one. Everyone has a butt-hole, you don;t need to be one.

So I thought, parenting is 10% talk and 90% example. What example am I ? I don't have tons of friends. I can count on one hand the people I would label “good friend”. And that's enough. At least I have some. They're all very strong women in their own ways and usually don't take crap from anyone. This is a good thing, as you can clearly see how your view yourself and what you deserve through those close to you. It's a pretty accurate mirror.

I have tons of acquaintances, Facebook friend count be damned. I've had a very public job for over 10 years and while I know several people, I've learned to be pretty choosy about who gets into the inner sanctum of my private life. Sometimes I still have learn that the hard way.

And, unfortunately, so does the Monkey Child. At 3 years old, she's very much her own person. She has her own little friends at daycare. They're pretty mellow and happy kids. So's Monkey... busy, but happy. The catty little girl factor will be facing her in the not too distant future for school. Will she surround herself with those little snots in pigtails who can make like miserable? Or will she be cowering in the corner alone? Or, best case, find an friend strong enough to brush it off together?

My hopes for Monkey is that she grows up fearless, yet not a bully. That she has some sense when she comes into adulthood of how to treat people with respect but not be a doormat. That these people she choses to be close to allow her to grow from a neat little kid into a kick-ass good old gal