I felt like when our third daughter graced us with her presence that made me an official “girl mom.”
Now prior to kids I thought a girl mom meant you were covered in glitter that shed from extravagant costumes and had bows overflowing from dressers – all while managing a creature with a whole lot of sass. I have actually found it to be quite the opposite (although one of our daughters shows us her sassy side pretty often).
Instead, I find myself having an inner struggle… what I mean is making myself let go of certain expectations for our daughters but also creating new ones.
“I like boy colors more.”
“I don’t like princesses.”
“I am the boy in that movie.”
These are words I never thought I would hear as a girl mom. And I will just be honest with you, I struggled hearing these simple things. I think it’s because I know how important our roles are as parents and I want to respond with the most perfect answer that doesn’t make her believe her feelings and choices are wrong, because they aren’t.
My daughter is strong, independent and loves to explore nature and for whatever reason, she notices that these are things seen more in boy characteristics on TV shows and commercials. And you know what? She isn’t completely wrong, but that doesn’t mean I can’t foster that and teach her more.
So instead of focusing more on the princesses and all things girly, I am more intentional on building her self confidence, letting her know that girls can play with boy toys and girl toys, that anyone can like any and all colors, and that she is a strong independent little girl who is very loved. Plus let’s face it, girls are capable of anything!
