Dear parents, thanks for all the lessons

So when Miley Cyrus shocked the world a few days ago, there was a kerfuffle about her actions. Rightly so.  The internet exploded with outrage. Because the pen is mightier than the sword, and all that. And blogging about your outrage using expletives instead of reason is the way to accomplish change.

Obviously.

It's disturbing enough that this happened. On national TV, no less. But we have called only more attention to it by spreading our opinions through the blogosphere. Oh well. It's been a slow week.

It's not like we have a potential war to think about, or anything. It's been so peaceful the past oh, five years that we have to invent things like this to be enraged about.

Welcome to America.

I, like so many other innocent blog surfers got sucked into THE GREAT MILEY DEBATE with great reluctance. In fact, I didn't even know about it until I read this post by an ordinary mom.

This same post sparked a letter written by blogger Matt Walsh to his son, detailing why he didn't want his son to be another  Robin Thicke. Many agree with him (as do I) that the man involved should, well, man up and take some heat for this as well.

But what about Miley's parents?  Yes, Miley is an adult, but the foundations for decisions we make in our adult lives are laid when we are children. Where were they when she was an impressionable child?

I wonder....

 I'd like to share an open letter I've written to my parents, in the spirit of the Miley-Cyrus-letter-writing.

So here goes. Hang on to your hats. You might read some scary words like "hands-on" and "values" and maybe even "discipline".

You've been warned.

***

AN OPEN LETTER TO MY PARENTS

Dear Mom and Dad,

I'm nearly as old as Miley Cyrus (yikes) and I just wanted to take this opportunity to say a few things.

First of all, thank you for teaching me that family is more important than money. Thank you for teaching me that the value of a dollar exceeds the number on the bill, it is also all the hard work that goes into earning that dollar.

Thank you for encouraging me to shoot for the stars and chase my dreams, while keeping Christ as my main focus. Thanks for telling me that being different isn't a bad thing. Thank you for all those times in middle school you told me that there was nothing wrong with me because I was a bigger size in clothes, and I didn't have the latest and greatest such and such. There was nothing wrong with my short brown hair and glasses.

 This is me. Uncompromised. Comfortable. The way I was made. Thanks for telling me all of that and more.

Thanks for not pushing me into something I didn't want to do. Thanks for letting me choose my own interests, my own passions and hobbies. You didn't see me as an extension of your own life, someone you could live vicariously through. You saw me as my own person and let me find that out for myself.

Thanks for seeing that my introverted nature and quiet personality would learn better in an un-crowded environment. Mom, thanks for all the curriculum shopping, for the thought that went into each purchase. Thanks for doing your utmost to make my schooling the best possible. Dad, thanks for working two jobs so mom could keep staying home and schooling us. Thanks for seeing us as people to be cultivated.

Thanks for that time recently when you told me it was totally okay that I had NO idea what I wanted to do with my life. Thanks for telling me that college wasn't for everyone, and that you'd be just as proud of me if I chose not to go. Thanks for being different.

Thanks for filling our home with laughter, for teaching me that the best way to approach life is with a good sense of humor, and for making me laugh so hard I snort Pepsi Throwback out of my nose. Thanks for being funny.

Thanks for teaching me to think for myself. Thanks for teaching me not to be a sheeple. Thanks for teaching me to form my own opinions based on fact, and not on hearsay or propaganda. Thanks for the impromptu lessons that went with every grocery trip. Thanks for teaching me what brands were the same and which were worth the splurge. Thanks for teaching me real-life stuff. Thanks for knowledge that kept me fed, in clean clothes and (mostly) on time during the two months I lived in another state. Thanks for teaching me how to live.

Thanks for teaching me that respect goes a long way, and sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all. Thanks for showing me how to be pleasant around others. Even when others aren't pleasant.

Thanks for every way you've loved me unconditionally, every encouragement, every time we spend time together. Thanks for believing in my writing before anyone else did. Thanks for not telling me to find a more profitable career. Thanks for rejoicing with me after every book sale, every good review.

Thanks for being you.

Thanks for letting me be me.

Thanks for being my parents. Not my friends. My parents.

I love you guys. And I can never thank you enough.

Your little penguin,

Shannon