"You can be anything!"

The other day I was cleaning the play room and I was stopped by Babycake's dress-up clothes. A super-girl cape, princess dress, a construction worker's hat, and a doctor's outfit. Since the day Babycake was born we've told her she can be anything she wants. I was so touched by the realization that we not only tell her she can be anything, but we encourage it in play and life. At the age of two, she came up with a little song, all her own, about being anything you want. "You can be anything! You can be anything! You can be a doctor, or a nurse, or a teacher, or a prince or princess! You can fly in space like an astronaut too! You can be anything you want to be!" The occupations may change every other rendition, but the message is always the same.

My husband and I are not the type of parents who sugar coat the idea that simply because our child wants something, she will get it. We tell her that if you want something you must work for it, and sometime it can be hard. Of course this concept of working for want you want means very little at the moment when she can simply imagine flying, and to her, she is.

In a time when so many more parents are worried about the futures of their children due to recent events I will not mention more than say elections, I've found myself drawn into the worry as well. Will our daughters be told that they are not worthy of being great, that they should be in the kitchen, that they will never be anything but a pretty face?

No, our daughters will be fine. We parents are worried about these things because we care. Because we care, we will make sure to give our children every opportunity possible to achieve more than we. My dream for my children is that they become better people than me. I myself am a good person, but I want them to be great. I want them to be healthy in mind, body, and spirit. I want them to have the serenity to accept the things they can not change, the courage to change the things they can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I wish this for myself everyday but do not always succeed, I hope my children will be able to do this with ease.

My child's life in play- she can be anything.