As Elder Daughter turns 12

Elder Daughter turns 12 in the next week.  She just started 7th grade yesterday.  The first day went well - although I am more than a little nervous about her ability to stay on top of the amount of homework she will now be getting, with 7 different teachers/classes!  She's taking French - her homework yesterday was to practice saying her name with a French accent.  To help her I kept asking her to say that for me...I'm sure speaking that way will feel awkward for her at first, but to truly implant a foreign language in the brain, ya gotta actually speak it!

Anyway, like I said, she's turning 12 soon.  I look at her, with her makeup and getting taller...and my brain can't help but jump forward about 10 years and wonder what her future will be!  Here is a list of all the things I wish for her:
-I hope she chooses a path for her life which not only makes her happy, but is also fulfilling, honest, legal, moral, and pays her bills!
-I hope she is picky about who she dates!  She won't be actually "dating" until she's maybe 15 or 16, which I suspect will become hard to enforce because I know B and I are more strict with her than the parents of her peers in some respects.
-I hope she grows into a young woman who is curious about the world beyond our town, our part of the country, our continent! 
-I want her to understand that just because her peers may have little or no interest in attending college, as a female in this economy/society it is doubly important that she obtain as much higher education as possible!
-I hope she grows to understand that getting married is not a mandatory choice just because she is female.  I hope as she gets older, she understands that while it is human nature to want and have relationships, it is not imperative to be married in order to be happy.
-I hope that as she gets older, she knows that it is not mandatory - just because she is female - that she have children.  If she does choose to have children, I hope she waits to do that until she has a true understanding of the sacrifices involved.  I hope she understands that the choices to get married, and/or become a parent, should be fully informed choices and not something that circumstances choose for her.
-I hope she grows into someone who chooses to read a book/take a hike/walk the dog/otherwise engage her brain cells...instead of watching hours of pointless television.
-I hope she maintains a compassionate and kind heart for those who have not had the same advantages she has been blessed with, and approaches those people/situations with which she in unfamiliar with an open mind.
-I hope she maintains a positive relationship with her sister, throughout their lives.

I could think of more, I'm sure!  By the way, I doubt K will see this post - at least not anytime soon.  I wouldn't lay all this on her anyway, it's all too 'deep' for a kid her age and anyway, I'm sure I have told her most of this one way or another.  I have to go make a "real hair-cut" appointment for her, she wants an actual style, done at a hair salon as a birthday present.
Thanks for visiting.
Later,
Jen