raising girls
last night i went with a friend to a lecture given by
on raising girls. i feel like the last twelve hours i have been soaking up the information and want to write it down while it is still fresh. there was
that touched on some of the topics of last night but my biggest takeaway was to define the attributes i want her to have when she is my age; confident, playful, kind, creative, adventurous, unafraid, healthy, compassionate, intelligent, nonjudgmental. these are the first words that come to mind. in order for this to be a reality i need to make a conscious commitment to be my daughter's ally on this journey of growing up. the words i choose, the behavior i model, the example i set are all a part of who my daughter will become. i left feeling a little overwhelmed by this huge responsibility of people making but that also this responsibility is a precious gift. our society is so geared to make our young women competitive, insecure, and self-critical. the most important thing we can do is advocate for them and help them realize what is alive in them. the labels we give our children (cute, spirited, defiant, rowdy) scratch the surface of their beautiful and complex spirits. sugar and spice is fine sprinkled in but it's time to develop a more robust vocabulary to describe elodie. i look forward to doing the work and am so grateful for the resource of
.
