18 Things My Parents Knew I’d Eventually Thank Them For

1. Thank you for teaching me health, making me sit at the kitchen table until I finished all of my meat.

2. Thank you for giving me magic, letting me continue to believe in the Easter Bunny and Tooth fairy, after some jerk on the bus ruined Santa Clause.

3. Thank you for the forced family bonding, piling all six of us in the minivan and road tripping to Florida for vacation each year instead of flying.

4. Thank you for practicing my honesty, punishing me until I gave a genuine apology for my wrongful actions.

5. Thank you for building my confidence, letting me believe I could rock short hair, with the straight across ends hair cut 🙂

6. Thank you for gifting me lifelong friends, also known as my “annoying” and “pesty” siblings.

7. Thank you for introducing me to God, taking me to church followed by Sunday school every week.

8. Thank you for prolonging my “broke college student” label, forcing me to deposit half of every paycheck, holiday cash, and birthday card into my college bank account.

9. Thank you for teaching me commitment, not allowing me to skip a sports practice when I was too lazy to go.

10. Thank you for trusting your gut feeling, waiting down the street after dropping me off at my ~unexpected~ first alcoholic gathering.

11. Thank you for letting me vacation, in Mexico… for spring break… my senior year… with 50 of my high school classmates.

12. Thank you for staying nearby, coming with me to Mexico for that senior year yolo spring break trip.

13. Thank you for disciplining me, always checking my grades online before I even knew they were posted.

14. Thank you for calling me beautiful, never telling me I needed to watch what I ate or lose weight.

15. Thank you for instilling my morality, having “the talk” with me not one, not two, but three separate times.

16. Thank you for giving me memories, capturing all of the awkward stages I have endured on camera.

17. Thank you for being my rocks, holding me strong through any storm life throws my way.

18. Thank you for believing in me, helping me to attend my dream school and work towards my dream goals.