A Daughter (in-law) is a Gift

What is it about a strong independent thinking woman that is so in touch with her relatives that she senses when something is amiss even if no one says anything?  I have a daughter and a girlfriend who does this for me often.  The phone call that comes at a time I am suffering silently that says, "could not get you out of my thoughts today so I had to call and see how you are..."

And then there is the part of me that wants to be strong and say, "Everything's fine" when I am not fine.  In my older years I have found it is ok to let our adult children know when we are hurt or when we are weak, or when we need help, and to let them help us.  Adult children mean they can be your confidants, they can handle more trouble than you know, they do not need our protection anymore, support, yes, confidant yes, but no need to coddle and take care of them, in fact this coddling makes them afraid to leave home without you.

Our children have been independent for years now. Strong, independent thinkers, wise beyond their years and in fact much wiser than I was at their age, wiser than my husband at their age, maybe we did something right.  Women in particular don't like lies, cover ups, and BS.  Maybe this is why God made them the mothers of the future generations...to instill a love for the truth, or maybe we all are born with this in us, maybe fear is taught.  Words teach fear or fearlessness, what are you listening to everyday and how do you feel after hearing it?  You decide and for me I turned off cable and read books, if you read enough books, you begin to get your own opinion based on facts not hear say. We trust our children for they like us read and formulate their own opinions and you can bet when they speak to us, they have the facts, a truth we trust because they are informed.  We can openly debate anything and agree to disagree on the details peacefully without separation.

So a gift in my older years is our wise daughter, she listens and takes action to show her love to us every single day.  Daughter-in-laws are like that too.  My mother loves her daughter-in-laws, and my daughter loves me.  Strong, kind, women, are a gift in each of our lives. Thankful for each of these in our family.