A few weeks ago, QS asked for a $1 because she wanted to send a candy gram at school. She tends to bounce around a lot when we ask her about her friends so, I was intrigued and asked her who it was for and why she wanted to send it to them. Her answer: "me, because I'm awesome!" I cackled super hard as we tried to explain to her that the purpose of the candy gram wasn't to be self-serving but to recognize other people. She was pissed at us all day long.
A friend of ours happened to be volunteering to file paperwork in her daughter's class that same day and was listening when they were having a lesson on leadership and talking about different leaders they admired in their lives. Equally intrigued, she perked up wondering if her daughter would mention her or her husband. Her daughter's response: "The leader I admire most is me! I do my work well. I clean up my room. I'm responsible. I make sure my brother remembers all his stuff for soccer. I think I'm a great leader!"
We laughed really hard at the girls' responses but when I was thinking about it afterwards, they were honestly right. I loved the confidence that they had when I really thought about it and I hope they never lose that. Maybe QS could be a little more caring of the world around her, but I honestly appreciate her confidence and wish I had that more. I'm not really sure when I lost it. By most peoples' accounts, I was a pretty charming and witty kid that wasn't really afraid to say what she thought. But at some point, that changed. I've worked really hard at working through my issues, but it still feels like QS is lightyears ahead of me on this one.
I definitely know a ton of strong women I have great respect and admiration for. And apparently I'm raising one in ways that I don't even understand, but being one, or seeing myself as one has been a long road, one that I didn't usually think I was on. I routinely have taken the behind scene roles, balked when pushed into leadership roles and struggled with imposter syndrome thinking that I couldn't do it. Some of that social conditioning was bs. Some of it was just needing to work through my insecurities. But in continuing to learn what to unlearn, I loved New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern's response that "you can carve your own path, be your own kind of leader. We do need to create a new generation of leadership."
May we know more strong women. May I raise one but really, maybe the girls are raising us. And may we all learn to be them and to believe it. Lesson #287,146 of parenthood that my kids taught me when I thought I was teaching them.
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