“My mama is my role model. People call her Hashondra or Shonie, but I just get to call her mama. I don’t think that’s fair, but every time I try to call her by her name, she gives me that look. Something about “that look” lets me know what to say and what not to say.
My mama is brave and hard-working, and she helps many people. I am also brave, work hard, and help people make friends. My mama always tells me to be myself because that’s the easiest and hardest job I will ever have. I think I understand what she’s talking about, but I’m only 11. She says understanding will come in time.
My mama is more than a role model to me. She’s my hero, my best friend, and also the one who can take my phone when I don’t clean my room, but I love her very much, and I’m happy that God blessed me to be her favorite daughter. But don’t tell my sister, she might get jealous.
Most people have to look far and wide to find a role model, while mine is just a few feet away. To my young friends reading this, remember that parents can be cool friends and role models, but parents still have to be parents. Just like God loves and corrects us, parents must also love and correct us. My mama corrects me, “A LOT,” but it helps me get better and better to be successful.
That is why my mama is my role model. That is why my mama is my friend.
KayLee’s mother is our friend Hashondra Jernigan Smith, public speaker, author, life coach, entrepreneur, president of Manifest A Deliverance Foundation Inc.
