Motherhood and The Girl Effect
Last week Miki Devivo interviewed me for her Voices of Motherhood project. (She’s looking for more moms to share their stories, too.)
I was amazed by how much I was willing to share about all the internal work that goes into being a mother to two girls.
One of the things that emerged for me from that conversation is an appreciation for the way motherhood is making me a more capable citizen of the world.
In the eight years I’ve been a mom, I’ve learned to be an advocate for my daughters.
With their doctors, teachers, grandparents, friends, to continually be advocating for what is best for them. In turn, I’ve learned to be an advocate for myself in the same way. This is not a skill I practiced before I had kids. Through college, through my first few jobs, I didn’t have an understanding of how to advocate for myself.
But when the ultrasound tech said, “Girls!” and their lives flashed through my mind like a movie on fast forward: first steps, bike rides, braces, dates, prom, college, weddings, children, I saw clearly their future in my hands.
Many, many girls around the world have a future that is completely different from the future I imagine for my girls.
I realize how incredibly lucky my children are to live where they live. How lucky they are to have a momma who can advocate for them, to have at their fingertips education and healthcare and bikes and braces and prom.
So, Oct. 4-11 I’ll be participating in the Girl Effect Blogging Campaign to support and spread the word about the efforts of Girl Effect.
As you can see from this video, time is ticking. But we can do something about that.
I’d love for you to join me in advocating for a better future for all the girls of the world. To participate in the 2011 Girl Effect Blogging Campaign go here and here.
Learn more about Girl Effect here.
How wonderful to share your views on how motherhood is creating a more capable global citizen, which I am in total agreement with. I can not image what poverty must be like, and to be a mother that has to deal with the hash realities of simply surviving. I too have learned how critical it is to be an advocate for ourselves and our daughters. What a skill they have given us.
Thank you Nasrine for stopping to read and comment! I know that becoming a mother has been such an empowering and learning experience for me. I’ve truly become a better person as a result.