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Just like moms all over the world, I have dreams for my kids. If I see my girls running around, careless, I daydream about their future. Will they be happy? What kind of job will they do? Who will their friends be? Will they travel, just like we do now? When Friends International contacted me to share the dreams I have for my kids on our Instagram, it made me think.
My dreams for my kids
Reflections on our current life
The last few years we made some difficult decisions and decided to live a different life. Wanting to travel full time, we are taking away the comfort zone of our girls. We are throwing their world upside down. Taking them out of school, excluding them from a ‘normal’ social environment, having to say goodbye to a physical home. Will this affect their future in a negative way? Will it jeopardise the dreams I hold for them? It made me reflect on this. What is it that I really want for them? Is it a proper education? Or something more, something deeper?
Although I do realise education and jobs are important, in the end, that is not what keeps me awake at night. In our Western world, I know my girls will have enough opportunities to find an occupation they like. My job, as a mother who homeschools them, is to make sure they are prepared for that.
And do they really need so much money? Is a big house or car, a lot of clothes or luxury in general what we need to strive for in life? I’m getting more and more convinced it is not. After travelling a lot, we’ve learned that less is more! Value experiences above material things! I know, we’re not pretending to be saints. We do love some luxury or a fun gadget from time to time. But is it worth all the chaos of our daily lives? Is the goal of the wealthy, modern life the ultimate dream for my kids?
It is not. What I really hope for them is to be happy, safe and healthy.
What I really want for my girls
I hope they will realise how loved they are. Loved by us and by other people, many of which they still have to meet. That it will help them to be brave in those dark moments that life inevitably will throw upon them. That they know we are there to support them, we have their backs. I hope they know they are never alone to carry heavy burdens. Hopefully, health issues and safety won’t be the things they have to worry about.
I dream for them to become confident women, who believe in themselves and chase their own dreams. And those dreams don’t need to be ours. We’ll love them equally as much if they do decide to walk the ’normal’ path. But I want them to be confident in making their own decisions, because they want it, and not because someone or society tells them that is how they should live.
I wish for them to feel blessed. Blessed they can live on a planet as wonderful as ours. Understanding they have to take care of it and have a deep respect for every living thing on our earth. Being humble because they live in a Western world, realising not everybody is that lucky. And hopefully, they will be treated with the same respect.
As they grow older, I hope they don’t lose the talent to see the beauty in the little things. A sunrise, an animal encounter, a smile from a friend or being cosy together with their loved ones. Because when those things still make you happy, you can conquer anything! Hopefully, they’ll smile a lot, spreading the love and beauty to others as well. And I dream they won’t lose their sense of adventure, being curious about those things they don’t really know. Expanding their boundaries.
Love you to the moon and back my girls!
Mom x
What are your dreams for your children? Please share them in comments! And head over to Friends International, to support other women in realising their dreams!
Friends International – Dreams by moms
The reason I share my dreams for my kids is that I want to support the ‘Dreams by moms’ campaign by Friends International. It wants to highlight the hopes and wishes moms all over the world have for their kids. A lot of moms out there are having a hard time, because of poverty, lack of safety or other issues. Often they can’t realise the dreams for their children and because of that, another generation is jeopardised. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the goal of Friends International to help out these mothers.
Founded in 1994, Friends International works with marginalised urban children and youth, their families and communities, to help them become independent and productive citizens of their country. In 2018 Friends supported and worked to protect more than 145,000 individuals with the help of its partnerships and the ChildSafe Movement.
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This is a great piece and something I have been considering but not been able to put into words as eloquently as you have done. I often wonder at why we pursue the things we do in life and that a simpler existence without the unnecessary internal and external pressures seems something we are all so afraid to pursue. I support anyone who makes the brave decisions you seem to have made to find a different path to happiness.