Parent: n. One who begets, gives birth to, or nurtures and raises a child; a father or mother.

So in my Human Development class we learn alot about how the way your parents treat you in the early stages of life have a lot to do with how you turn out. And it scared me a little. I was thinking, what happens to those poor kids whose parents weren't ready to have children and didn't do it right? And now the kids are all messed up and it's not even their fault! And I am taking this class and learning so many valuable things about how to raise children but I'm thinking, most people do not get to take a human development class, so how do they get the information?

And then I started to realize... Sheesh. I sure am lucky. My parents sure knew what they were doing. Well, maybe they weren't sure of what they were doing at first but it just turned out to be right. I mean, I look around me and I see so many troubled people with so many messed up situations, and people doing horrible things and making stupid decisions. And I thought, if my parents hadn't raised me the way they did and provided such good examples to follow and enabled me to have such a strong moral foundation, I could be such a different person by now. But they did such a good job raising me that they shouldn't ever have to worry about stupid decisions I will make because I am grounded and I know what is right and wrong and the values that they have passed on to me are stuck in my mind forever.

I am just so thankful to have grown up in such a strong and secure family and that I can look back and be proud of the person I have become and the things I have accomplished.

Thank God for my parents.