Emma turned four today. Four, she told her teachers and every kid in the Red Group as soon as she walked through the door. The same age as her bestest buds , this seemed to be bigger news than all the cupcakes we brought, even the ones she frosted. Tonight there are new books to read and a new game ( Chutes and Ladders, which Jamie remembers fondly ). Some rainy day, there will be a new puzzle to try. Indulgent?; hard not to be with my little girl.
Six years ago, while we watched our sons run around the park, my neighbour, Paul, noted that four-year-old girls are the most self-confident people on earth. If allowed, they would, and could run the world. Paul had never lived with a four-year-old girl, but he knew people who did, and he’d heard them holding court around the jungle-gym. I’ve seen little girls in full command of two different day-care-centers. Emma knows the world belongs to her.
Yesterday, I watched Emma and three of her girls around a pink tea-table make big plans to wreck havoc. When our girls are dressed up in pink tulle with crowns and sparkly shoes, they rule the kingdom, and there’s not a king in sight. Emma loves Cinderella, she loves the magic and the transforming; when she plays it, the Prince never even enters the story.
Last year, I wondered how I was going to handle fairy tales. Last year, I imagined a Cinderella who took a break from the party to check out the castle library. That’s where she meets the very shy Prince;; they discuss literature and science. before hitting the dance floor. Okay, sometimes I tell the story “by the book”, but I’ll try and remember to tell it my way more often.
It might be easier to bring out my Ella if I could show her off in a picture-book. Any artist out there want to work on one with me? I’m not kidding; my drawing style is a little too modern and cartoonish than I think this beauty needs. Interested?; be in touch.
In that park that morning with Paul and the boyos, I hadn’t spent too much time with little girls. It is easier to wonder where all the girl-power goes if all you know is that theorists say it goes. Many of the ten-year-old girls I know play soccer and practice Kung Fu like they have something to prove. My mother-in-law (former Biology teacher) always said that the best group-projects were the ones where short teenage girls headed the groups. Those girls wanted good grades, and no lazy boys were going to stop them dammit!
Maybe it’s good that some girls think about their appearance before boys do. Some boys I know leave their houses in black sweatpants and dirty navy shirts, and I’m sick of looking at them. Stop embarrassing your mothers boys, before we stop chalking it up to “boys being boys”
My Emma is tough, powerful and loves loves pink. She turned four this morning.
Six years ago, while we watched our sons run around the park, my neighbour, Paul, noted that four-year-old girls are the most self-confident people on earth. If allowed, they would, and could run the world. Paul had never lived with a four-year-old girl, but he knew people who did, and he’d heard them holding court around the jungle-gym. I’ve seen little girls in full command of two different day-care-centers. Emma knows the world belongs to her.
Yesterday, I watched Emma and three of her girls around a pink tea-table make big plans to wreck havoc. When our girls are dressed up in pink tulle with crowns and sparkly shoes, they rule the kingdom, and there’s not a king in sight. Emma loves Cinderella, she loves the magic and the transforming; when she plays it, the Prince never even enters the story.
Last year, I wondered how I was going to handle fairy tales. Last year, I imagined a Cinderella who took a break from the party to check out the castle library. That’s where she meets the very shy Prince;; they discuss literature and science. before hitting the dance floor. Okay, sometimes I tell the story “by the book”, but I’ll try and remember to tell it my way more often.
It might be easier to bring out my Ella if I could show her off in a picture-book. Any artist out there want to work on one with me? I’m not kidding; my drawing style is a little too modern and cartoonish than I think this beauty needs. Interested?; be in touch.
In that park that morning with Paul and the boyos, I hadn’t spent too much time with little girls. It is easier to wonder where all the girl-power goes if all you know is that theorists say it goes. Many of the ten-year-old girls I know play soccer and practice Kung Fu like they have something to prove. My mother-in-law (former Biology teacher) always said that the best group-projects were the ones where short teenage girls headed the groups. Those girls wanted good grades, and no lazy boys were going to stop them dammit!
Maybe it’s good that some girls think about their appearance before boys do. Some boys I know leave their houses in black sweatpants and dirty navy shirts, and I’m sick of looking at them. Stop embarrassing your mothers boys, before we stop chalking it up to “boys being boys”
My Emma is tough, powerful and loves loves pink. She turned four this morning.
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