Parenting Guru: 5 dreams for my future daughters-in-law

I have three sons all under the age of 8, and my primary goal in life (besides making sure that they're happy and productive members of society, of course) is to provide my future daughters-in-law with amazing husbands. You know, husbands who never leave their socks in the middle of the living room. Husbands who know how to load the dishwasher. Husbands who give them a kiss when they walk through the door at the end of the day. Husbands who change poopy diapers and kiss boo boos.

As their mom it falls on me to raise these little beings into respectful and loving men, and it isn't a job I take lightly. So in the spirit of my New Year's resolution to get myself organized, I've created a list of my five dreams for the women my sons will eventually marry.

1. May they never know the feeling of sitting on a toilet with the seat left up. Manners are a big deal in this house, with the exception of burping on demand, which recognized for what it is--an impressive skill. However, we have a zero-tolerance policy for nasty bathroom antics, which includes leaving the seat up--or worse, leaving the seat down and sprinkling all over it. I've been a victim of both offenses on more occasions than I'd care to discuss, but we're making serious progress and should have this under control within the next decade or so.

2. May they never receive a love letter with a misplaced apostrophe. As a former English major and editor in chief of both my high school and college newspapers, it goes without saying that I'm a stickler for proper grammar and punctuation, and I'm raising the boys the exact same way. I may still get tripped up with long division, but that's why I married a civil engineer. We've got all the bases covered.

3. May they never have to clean up after someone I raised. As soon as we were confident that they could make it from the dining room table to the kitchen without shattering any dishes, the boys became responsible for clearing their places after they ate. Let's just say if they had a dollar for ever time they've heard me say "mom's not your waitress" (or maid, depending on what needed to be cleaned) their piggy banks would be bursting at the seams. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think it's starting to stick!

4. May they never leave the house without getting a kiss. Hugs and kisses are a big deal around here. Right now the boys are young so embarrassment over PDA (parental displays of affection) isn't really much of an issue when I hug and kiss them before they enter their school every morning, but I will go on record and say that I will give my boys hugs and kisses well beyond the point when they decide I'm lame.

5. May they always know that they are loved. I can say with great certainty that my boys have heard the words "I love you" at least once every single day of their lives. Sure, we live a life of chaos in a loud house with plenty of yelling, tantrums and tears, but man do we love each other. Crazy love. The kind of love I can't wait for them to experience when they have families of their own.

What are your wishes for your children's future spouses?

Melissa is a Shine Parenting Guru. When she isn't raising her three sons to be outstanding husbands, she's blogging about them on Fits "N" Giggles.