B-day Blog

Happy Birthday to me!

     I entered the world 42 years ago in an apartment on Chicago's Southwest side on a Sunday morning. I was born on a sofa and delivered by my uncle. How unorthodox and such is the way of my life.
     I have been exponentially blessed in this lifetime. No one makes it out of this life alive. The hope is that you make it out and have lived; I certainly have. "Life is a banquet, and some poor suckers are starving to death" says Rosalind Russell in my favorite version of the movie, Auntie Mame.

     This summer my boys and I have been going to the library for their awesome events. They have seen weather demonstrations, great folk music (a family tradition), reptiles, and creepy critters, all in the library.

     Sometimes I have joined them, sometimes not. We all know I am never voluntarily going to be in the same room as a rat. I usually sit with the parents in the chairs while the kids cop a squat on the floor around the activities. I have a writer's point of view of the action. So today on my birthday I will rant about two irritations that caught my writer's POV.

     During one of the science demonstrations there was a kid sitting in front of me in a chair and not on the floor. She kept raising her hand and answering the questions correctly when the presenter called on her. After awhile her female caretaker (maybe mom, maybe not) told her to put her hand down and keep quiet. It reminded me of being in school and being told by my own favorite teacher to put my hand down after answering several questions correctly.

     I realized that people, especially women, definitely get their hang-ups and issues during their developmental years. Why can't girls Shine, Lean In, and Run The World? Well they can if we push past these interruptions to our progress as a species. Ladies we have to push back on these antiquated rules that say women and girls have to take a back seat in life. Raising your hand the most is not rude, telling someone the best way to do something is not bossy, and tooting your own horn is not obnoxious. Maya Angelou said, "Timidity makes a person modest. It makes him or her say, 'I'm not worthy of being written up in the record of deeds in heaven or on earth.' Timidity keeps people from their good. They are afraid to say, 'Yes, I deserve it.'"

     On another day, I witnessed a whole other scene. I was going to the restroom, which I do a lot in my forties (ladies do your kegel exercises). As I approached the door it swung open and a little girl and her female caretaker (maybe mom, maybe not) exited. As the little girl passed me she said , "sorry (saw-ree)". In my mind I thought, wow we start them young in these parts. This adorable little miss was all of 3, and already she has the unnecessary habit of over apologizing. I recently told my own little princess to lose the habit. A week or so later she sent me an article that told me she heard me and got confirmation from The Universe that mommy knows of what she speaks.

     We are on the verge of having a very qualified woman become President of The United States. The media outlets are about to tear her apart when they put her through the wringer while she campaigns. We can all graduate our thinking when this happens not by saying they are picking on her because she's a woman but instead saying they are treating her the way they treat all the candidates. She's a woman; she can handle it.
     Hillary Clinton will make a great president if she doesn't wait her turn to speak, tells them how to do it well, and she pats herself on the back when she gets it right. If she does this, she will get my Republican vote and create a better free world for Chelsea's future kids.
     Naomi Wolfe says, "A Mother who radiates self-love and self-acceptance actually VACCINATES her daughter against low self-esteem." May I just say that my little princess is on her way to being a Q.U.E.E.N. just like her mommy. Now that is a great gift.