1: Don’t ever make a major life decision because you think it’s what I want you to do.  And feel free to remind me of this when, in a moment of motherly angst, I tell you you’re screwing up your life.  (Unless, of course, you really are screwing up your life by doing things like not brushing your teeth or getting hooked on drugs.)

2:  Thank God every day.  You are blessed beyond words.  Cultivating a grateful heart is the surest path to contentment.  And contentment equals happiness. 

3:  Educate yourself. (Please?  Please?!)  I don’t mean get an education, although I hope you will.  I mean nurture a love for learning and an open mind.  Susan Sontag once said:  Intelligence is really a kind of taste:  taste in ideas.  Seek to gather knowledge and ideas like others gather treasure and the world will open up for you in unimagined ways.

4:  I didn’t give you life.  You give it to me. When you were young, I wrote this:  I am a mother and that’s all I know.  My children run through me like blue through a river and I can’t remember me before them.  I wouldn’t be what I am today without you.  You are my love, my life, my laughter.

5:  Have fun.  Life is too short to be serious all the time.  Besides, belly laughs are free therapy.

And, oh yeah . . . number 5.1:  Stay off drugs! Seriously!