Back in the 17th Century, King Charles the First decided to rule England without a parliament and pretty much did as he pleased when it came to introducing high taxes and other reforms. This period of ‘personal rule’ lasted between 1629 and 1640, hence it’s known in history as the “Eleven Years Tyranny.”

The reason I am mentioning this history nugget is because tomorrow is my daughter’s 11th birthday, which means that I have been a mother for exactly, yes, eleven years (duh!). And as a single mom in a foreign country and with an only-child I could easily be labeled as a tyrant mom. You know, the absolute dictator, in absolute control of her kid’s life, with no opposition and, of course, with no one other than me to dictate the rules.

Seriously, how do you know if you are doing the right thing when you have no benchmark and no one to discuss your decisions with? You need to be extremely egocentric to believe that every single one of the steps you take is the best one, and on the other hand, you can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of it all.

The only way to know is to focus on the output. On whether your actions and decisions to guide your child one way or the other result in the formation of a confident, generous and happy human being.

Whenever I see her, I believe that I see all that and give myself a pat on the back thinking that ‘so far, so good’. But there are still seven years to go – probably the most difficult ones – until the time comes when she will not be under my wing anymore.

I just hope I won’t be writing about my own version of the “Seven Years War” the day before her 18th birthday.