Tomorrow is Women’s Day, and while women are celebrated I thought I’d share a different take on this occasion to focus more on the women of tomorrow who are the little girls of today. When we discuss women we tend to think about the positive, about resilience, and about achieving goals no matter what the obstacles are. We are the generation that had to struggle to get to this mentality, even if gender equality already existed, because perhaps our homes growing up weren’t that enthusiastic about this issue. We should take advantage of the times we live in now to be able to raise our daughters to truly believe in their potential even at a young age.

Times are changing and let us fuel little girls so their fire within never goes out, and let us try these seemingly small tips that have a great impact, to ensure a strong future for women.

Encourage her independence.

Being a girl doesn’t mean being frail so avoid the need to constantly help and show her how things should be done. Give her some space to try, make mistakes and come up with a proper solution or strategy. Independence as young girls teaches them to become confident adults who believe they can achieve what they set their mind to, and on the plus side they won’t regard being in a relationship as a defining thing.

Allow her to make up her own mind.

As parents we know what’s best for our daughters, from the insignificant to the more important matters, but it is essential to give them space to decide. Whether she mismatched her clothes but feels they look nice or even stands up for a friend who you might think isn’t deserving, don’t second guess her and allow her to be confident in her choice.

Try not to use her gender against her.

A common mistake is forbidding or advising against something because “you’re a girl”. While we think this is a good reason it is actually very damaging. We shouldn’t make our daughters feel that they are not capable just because they are girls. It could be sports, a career choice or anything in between, the words “you’re a girl” should be empowering and not demotivating.

In hopes that these tips will help mothers who are raising daughters, together we can ensure a brighter future full of strong and empowered women!

Maria Najem

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