What will your kid's childhood narrative be?

Last night M said to me, "You know Mom, even though you get mad at me and yell sometimes and make me do things I don't like, like my homework some days, I really love you. And I like being your kid because we do stuff together and we talk".

This morning I woke up before her and while I laid in bed enjoying the calm-before-a-weekend-morning, I remembered what she said and that got me thinking about what her childhood narrative will be when she grows up. You know how when you meet someone and start the process of getting to know each other and you give the "in a nutshell" life story? Usually in that narrative are one or two lines that give a snapshot of how you remember your childhood.

Mine goes something like this: "I had a very interesting childhood. There were some things about it that weren't great and took me a long time to get over, but I also had some amazing experiences and have great stories to tell, so overall it wasn't bad".

I consider myself fortunate because I can end mine on a pretty good note. There are a lot of people in the world who can't end their childhood narrative on anything even close to a positive note.

My point it this:

Never lose sight of the impact you have on the future narrative of your child's life. It's not just the "big" events that shape their view; what you do and say day-to-day is all soaked in and will eventually be the basis of their childhood narrative.