Mama...
Daddy....
you taught me to do the right things

Mama you taught me to do the kind things
to live life with a heart full of compassion
to smile each and every day and see what life brings
to be sweet to all without question

Daddy you taught me to do the tough things to stand up for myself when the world's armies stand against
to protect myself
my skin and confidence my own shining armor
to be tough, strong, and sturdy because life will knock me down

Mama you taught me to dream things
that if I always believed in myself life couldn't crush any of my hopes with its big fist
to dream endlessly while I can and to chase every lead I get because I don't know the next time I'll get one

Daddy you taught me to create things
to create myself
to build up the person I want to be and branch off of who I already am
that no one is going to hold my hand and show me how but I have to figure it out on my own
and that's the best way to do it

Mama you taught me to do the wild things
to go out and do things just because I can
to live with excitement in my heart because I'll blink and "the best years of my life" will be gone
to go and explore while I'm young

Daddy you taught me to do the smart things to be logical in a sometimes so ill logical place
that sometimes I'll have to pick my mind over my heart and there will be times when my heads right and it's smart to listen to it

Mama you taught me to do the quiet things
to do things that better others instead of myself to be selfless in a bowl of selfish
and it's okay to have it go unnoticed, to act without recognition
to be quiet in a world so loud

Daddy you taught me to do the confident things
to be my own fan on occasion
to believe that I have what it takes because there will always be those people saying "you wish" and those people will be my motivation to be confident, but not arrogant
to tell people "you wish you could stop me"

Mama you taught me to do the soft things
to fall apart to understand what will put me back together
to let things break my heart
to cry
to hurt
to know and understand it's okay to not always be okay
to struggle because I'm only human and if I didn't then I wouldn't be living right

Daddy you taught me to do the hard things
to work for what I want and I'll get what I deserve
that luck and hope to have a little something to do with it but it's the willing and hard-working who will make it
to strive for a dream that I have to stand on my tippy toes to reach
to challenge myself, because it'll pay off

Mama you taught me to do the funny things to laugh because it's good for me
to not take life too seriously because it's a beautiful thing, to laugh with others to be the cause of laughter and even laugh at yourself
to brush it off and giggle through life
to constantly enjoy what's going on around me, because I'll never be this young again

Daddy you taught me to lead things
that if I step up and take a leap of faith in the direction I believe to be great people might follow
to walk with my shoulders up and my head held high
to lead by example and hope that by leading  I could leave a lasting mark here

Mama...
Daddy...
I can't guarantee that I'll do all the right things
i'm only human, I'm only so young, and I have a lot more learning to do

I can't guarantee that I will make all the right decisions
i'm just a kid, but I'm growing up, and some things I have to learn on my own

But I can guarantee that I'll get there, I will have learned and taught myself along the way

And I believe that the best teachers are the ones that teach you about life
and I'm confident going into mine knowing that I had the best teachers of all
my number one fans
my advice givers
my inspirers
my love givers

Mama...
Daddy...
You taught me to do the right things
And soon you'll have to let me fly