I want my daughter to know.....

  I have a daughter she is the greatest joy in my life, and the best thing that has ever happened. I look around the world and I am sure like most parents I worry. I worry for her being a women, I worry for her future, I just plain worry. Raising a child is difficult, raising a daughter seems even harder. I look at commercials, and the way girls dress, and I wonder what ever happened to kids just being kids? What happened to letting little girls, be little girls and not trying to turn them into women to soon. I look at girls sitting well others play because they don't want to ruin there nail polish or they can't play in there fancy shoes. I look around and see short, shorts, and dresses.
    Maybe I am old fashioned and I guess that is okay, but doesn't seem to fit into the "times". I want my daughter to still play with her dolls and not be told she is a baby for doing so. To get dirty, and not have to worry about adult problems. I want to raise my daughter to not be like me, but better then me. To be strong, knowledgeable, smart, compassionate, kind, but to know that she doesn't have to take crap. To know that it is more important who you are on the inside, then what you look like on the outside. That your weight, hair, features, teeth don't determine who you are. That you don't have to dress provocatively and show off your body to be attractive. I want her to get through life with out knowing the fear of abuse. I want her to keep her sense of humor and know that in life sometimes that is all there is to keep you going. I want her to grow and forget the pains of poverty, but to understand that money can make things easier but doesn't make you happy. To know true love, and have passion for life. I want to guide her and raise her to have enough strength to decide who she wants to be, and not be who the world thinks she should be. Most important I want her to know that home will always be her soft place to land, no matter her age.