When I’m blessed with a child, I pray that it would be a girl child. I want a daughter. I never thought I’d grow up to want one but I have.
In the past, I believed that daughters were reserved for men who were being punished for the reckless lives they had lived. I saw female offspring as a gateway to endless stress and a fast-lane to grey hair.
This much distorted view has, fortunately, changed completely. I no longer look at baby girls and feel sorry for the parents because I imagine what the teenage years might bring. I see past my unreasonable predictions because I have taken a deeper look into what in a person’s life leads them to behaving in certain ways.
Knowledge is power but, more importantly, communication is the tool which brings that power into existence.
Therefore, I believe that there are many things which my daughter must know and I must be the one to teach her. Open channels of communication between my princess and I will equip her for life and also strengthen the bond between us.
The first thing I am going to teach my daughter is the importance of her existence, she will never subscribe to the notion that females are inferior to men or any of that patriarchal poppycock. She will look at boys and see equals or subordinates but never superiors. I will make her understand ‘that it’s a mans world’ only if she allows it to be.
Secondly, I will teach her how a man is supposed to treat her by treating her mother the right way. It’s well known that girls accept upon themselves what their fathers did to their mothers. This is why it is so important for mothers to watch what they allow in their lives because they could be subscribing that into the lives of their daughters.
Thirdly, my angel will know that her parents are always there for her, no matter what. She will have a complete understanding that we are all for her, her mother and I are always on her side and we will never turn away from her.
We will always be the sanctuary she can run to, the place she never needs an invite to because our home was built in her honour.
Many childrens’ problems are just symptoms of parenting problems. That might seem unfair but that doesn’t make it any less true. With these first three lessons, I’m certain that my daughter will be better off than many of her counterparts.
There are multitudes of other lessons that I will give and receive because education is an ongoing process and the teacher often becomes the student as well. I was raised in a home with mostly boys and when I look back, I wish my mom had a girl to instil the wonderful traits of womanhood that she possesses.
Also, I want a girl because boys will eat you out of house and home.
