Have you ever opened your mouth and heard your mother come out? I often hear this from adults as something negative. We sometimes worry we are becoming our parents. Often, it’s something we try to avoid. Other times, it’s something we fully embrace. 

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The older I get and the further along in my parenting journey I travel, the more I realize becoming like my parents isn’t always a bad thing. 

And I certainly wouldn’t want our daughter or sons to feel becoming like me is something negative. I want our kids to grow up to be their unique selves, but I hope any influence I have over them will be positive, life-giving, healthy, and honorable. Although I am far from a perfect parent, I hope I do enough to make our kids proud. I hope I do enough to ensure our kids always know they are fiercely loved and cherished. 

I pray if our kids recognize they are becoming more like me or saying something like I did, they will embrace it because I hope I have parented them in a way they would be proud to emulate. At the same time, I hope they each are learning who they are and growing deeper into who they were created to be. 

I pray they see how hard I love them and love their own children with the same intensity. 

I pray when they open their mouths and their mother comes out, it is because they are lifting someone up, spilling love, or encouraging someone. 

I pray when they open their arms and their mother comes out, it is because they are squeezing love into someone or hugging someone who is hurting. 

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I pray I have loved and parented in a way that will make any one of our children proud if they see themselves acting like or saying something I do. I also pray they will take what they have learned and make it their own. I hope they become everything they were made to be. Our children are each special and uniquely wonderful, and I hope they can fully embrace who they are. 

I pray I have made them proud as a mother, encourager, and supporter. I pray I have set healthy examples in forgiveness, emotional health, humility, strength, and thankfulness.

And when I haven’t been the most patient parent, I hope to set the example of asking for forgiveness and constantly trying to improve myself. Or when I don’t set an example I would be proud to see our kids emulate, I hope they have the ability to learn from my mistakes and set a more healthy example for their own kids.

I pray I have given them the wings to fully become who they are. I want nothing more than for them to become who they were uniquely designed to be.

As their mother, I have such an important influence on them, and I hope I do enough. 

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So, if the time comes when one of our kids opens his or her mouth and hears me, I hope it will provide a sense of satisfaction, and my kids will be proud to do or say something like I did.