20 Things My Daughter Should Know: Part 2

I had so much fun with part one of Twenty Things My Daughter Should Know, that I decided to come back with twenty more. And seeing as I spent ten minutes this morning watching Ben run at the sliding glass door with a shoe box on his head, bounce off, laugh and do it all over again, it's clear that I'm no closer to understanding men and that his future advice blogs will still have to wait. But I digress.

So Layla, as soon as you can read this, here is Part 2 of some of the the things in life that I think you should know. Remember to please hold all questions until you are at least sixteen. Trust me, it will take me that long to figure out how to explain half of these things to you.

1. You can be anything you want to be. As long as that "thing" isn't a Kardashian.

2. If you let other people determine your self-worth, they will always lowball you. Be your own person, determine your own value and try (as much as you can) to ignore everyone else.

3. I said it before, but it bears repeating. Seriously, seriously, SERIOUSLY never wax your own eyebrows, unless you enjoy looking like a bald alien for the better part of a year.

4. Some choices in life are impossible, like picking a favorite child or deciding which one of the guys from Vampire Weekend is the cutest. Life isn't black and white and it's okay to not have all of the answers.

5. They say being beautiful opens doors, but being fearless kicks the doors down and sets the room on fire. I haven't quite figured out fearless yet, but you can break the cycle of letting fear hold you back.

6. A wise man once said, "Turns out not where, but who you're with that really matters". If you like the people who surround you, you will always be somewhere great. And yes, Mommy considers Dave Matthews a wise man.

7. Having a little faith never hurt anyone.

8. There's no such thing as too much color, too many crayons, too much fun, or too much glitter.

9. I've learned so much more from things being hard than I have from things being easy. Struggle makes you grow up and get your act together. Without it, we'd all still be living in our parent's basements.

10. Assumption is the lowest form of communication.

11. Sometimes, nothing beats a good cry. Get mad, be upset, let it all out...and then move on.

12. Don't forget to smile.

13. Girlfriends are nice, but in my opinion, guys make the best friends. They're more laid back, they don't care about what you're wearing, and they have a tendency to be more adventurous (for the most part). But beware of the completely unfair, ridiculously untrue reputation that tends to follow a girl with mostly guy friends...other girls who aren't cool enough to understand will spread lies. Which actually brings my point full circle: A guy friend wouldn't do that.

14. Like most things in life, Justin Beiber is just a phase. It too shall pass.

15. If you watch carefully, you'll find that The Sound of Music has the answers to all of life's major problems: Marriage, children, music, problematic nuns, baronesses, love, DIY curtain clothes, yodeling, Nazis...it has a solution for everything.

16. Making someone else feel bad about themselves in order to make you feel better about yourself doesn't work. It just makes you a jerk.

17. Money is nothing but paper. It shouldn't be what drives you in life.

18. Dance like no one's watching. But close the blinds, because someone's probably watching.

19. Big words mean nothing if they're not used in the right context. They just make you sound obnoxious and like you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

20. No matter what you do or who you turn out to be, I will always love you. I can't make you many guarantees in life, but I can guarantee that with absolute certainty.

I love you. Now please help me scrape your brother off of the sliding glass door.