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I got the idea of this from Mom’s Daily Dose’s writing challenge today.  Yes, it resembles an awful lot a meme and I just posted a meme on Tuesday.  But there’s some truth here and an opportunity to visit some great blogs who are writing on this very topic.  And that topic is:

What are the three things you wish for your kids to experience in their lives?  Is it different for your sons and daughters?

This brought out a lot of deep introspection for me.   And I realized that I was going to have a hard time coming up with just three things.  But then again, it’s not very hard to narrow it down to what is most important.

I’ve said for many years that I hope none of my children have to endure the infertility and loss that we had to suffer through.  When my oldest son was diagnosed with an undescended testicle when he was just 4 years old, it was no question whether or not we wanted the doctor to operate and fix the issue.  By operating, we would reduce his chances for not only testicular cancer later on but possible infertility later in life.  Not that it wasn’t hard to see our baby (yes, they’re still babies at 4 years old) go under the knife, but we knew the benefits far outweighed the negatives.  If there was anything we could do to limit his anguish later on down the line, we would do it happily.

I also wish for my children to enjoy financial stability when they become adults.  Money isn’t everything.  It isn’t even half of everything.  But having a decent job, a decent home to live in, decent cars to drive and a decent amount in your account to cover the important stuff is a big deal.  We made a lot of mistakes with money when we were younger that we’re paying for now.  So I hope that I might be somehow able to prevent my own children from making those mistakes. It makes a difference.

Lastly, I wish for my children to have happiness.  I know that life cannot be happy all the time.  But I want them to have enough happiness and love to fall back on when the times do get rough.  I want them to have wonderful families, each other and a strong sense of self.  I want them to be able to fight for themselves and for what matters to them when it counts.  It might sound trite to wish love and happiness for your children, but love and happiness themselves are definitely not trite.  You don’t miss those things until they’re gone.  So I hope my children never know what it’s like to be without love and happiness.  It’s what makes this life we’re living worthwhile.

So what do you wish?