• after they outgrow strangers' confusion during infancy, dissolve expectations of gender roles.
• beautify their spaces—their nursery; a treehouse in the backyard; their teenage sanctuary.
• begin recording their lives from conception by filling stacks of journals meant for them to read when they come of age. commit their every milestone and all of our special moments to writing.
• celebrate birthdays and holidays with a touch of extravagence.
• commit a notebook to passing notes back and forth with them: sometimes it's easier to write than to speak.
• cook and bake together.
• create artwork with every medium we can get our hands on: crayons, fingerpaints, oil pastels, scented markers, watercolours.
• do not allow them to rush their childhood; savour it.
• dress in costumes and trick-or-treat every halloween.
• eat cereal & fresh fruit for breakfast; pack lunches in brown paper bags with notes tucked inside.
• encourage frank, honest communication.
• encourage, but never force, them to make the best decisions. allow them to make mistakes, and to learn from them.
• ensure that they are well-dressed, no matter their personal style.
• make snow angels & snowmen. sprinkle 'reindoor food' on the lawn every christmas eve, and bake snickerdoodles for 'santa'.
• never use a condescending tone when speaking with them.
• pick flowers & fashion them into crowns; or put them into tall glass vases. plant flowers, and play in the mud.
• play in the rain.
• prepare delicious, healthy meals while helping them with the homework they've strewn across the table.
  • enjoy dinner with our family crowded and chattering around the table. every evening.
• purchase a copy of 'oh! the places you'll go!' & ask their teachers write messages in it each school year until they graduate.
• push them to pursue both knowledge and education.
• read to them before they even begin to babble.
• relate my own life stories to theirs—but do try to avoid sounding too 'back in the day'.
• sing loudly; dance wildly.
• spend loads of time with our extended family, and make a family tree.
• take innumerable photographs, and make home movies.
• take trips to the coast: build sandcastles & collect seashells.
• teach them everything i know.
• teach them value in every sense of the word.
• tell them i love them, every single day.
• travel & explore together: daytrips, picnics, camping trips, and family vacations.
• welcome their friends into our home.
• "have a massive, beautiful, sleepy dog like a great pyrenees or a deerhound." (*)
• "light sparklers at midnight on new year's eve." (*)
• "never miss a soccer practice or school play." (**)
• "put tangerines in the bottoms of christmas stockings." (*)

(*) quoted from otter. (**) this was on someone's list, but i cannot recall whose! :(