Celebrating International Women Day on March 8, 2019: A Letter to Our Children
To our sons:
Everytime you ask why….
Everytime you wonder who…..
Everytime you question how…..
The answer will always be the same……Thank God for creating women.
To our daughters:
No matter what it takes, stay on course
No matter who said what about whom, stay on course
No matter how long it takes, stay on course
As it is the only way – staying on course, which will allow you to take your place in this world, beyond self-doubt and peer criticism. Believe in yourself
To the parents:
Raise our boys to respect girls
Raise our boys to break stereotypes
Raise our boys to follow their hearts
Raise our boys to be true to their emotions
Raise our daughters to respect themselves
Raise our daughters to believe in themselves
Raise our daughters to dream expansively
Raise our daughters to love themselves
Raise our children to love one another, to support one another, to cherish one another, to treat one another as equals.
To my fellow women and mothers:
A husband starts calling his wife, ‘mom’ in front of their children; the mother herself refers herself as “mother of her children” instead of by her first name. Sooner than expected, the name of the woman melts into the daily chores, busy schedules, lack of sleep, endless exam preparations etc.
Maintaining a woman’s self-identity is an uphill struggle, for a woman has to wear so many hats during her life span: the hat of a daughter, the hat of a wife, the hat of a mother, the hat of a daughter-in-law, the hat of an employee. Somehow in the midst of all the commotion, a woman cannot keep up with which hat to wear and when to wear which hat………..
I am turning 55 this year and I am a daughter, a wife and a mother of three children (2 adults and 1 preteen). Like most of us, I wear different hats on different days and different times over the years. But this year I am adding a new hat to my collections; the obvious question is why and which hat this time? Am I not tired? What is the purpose of it all?
Which hat? The hat of a parenting and teen coach. Why?
I love what I have been doing, I believe that being a mother is one of my callings (having my 3rd child at the age of 42 and raising him has been like a second chance given to me) and being a mother is truly a gift from God. My children shower me with love, they teach me what is humility, they teach me how to be patient and they teach me how to love without fear.
However, I believe this is only the beginning, being a mother is only the beginning of my journey of self-discovery of not only who I am, but furthermore what is the purpose of my life and how to live it with meaning and fulfilment.
It is never too late to chase after your dream.
It is never too late to give it your best shot.
It is never too late to give hope and love to others.
On this International Women’s Day, I want to shout out to all the little girls, teen girls, young adult women, young mothers, mature mothers, grandmothers and Godmothers ……. that we do need to continue to hold up half the sky, we can make a difference, the world has a place for us too as long as we stay on course and stay connected with one another. We need one another as a collective of ONE. We need the world to see us as ONE with unity.
On this International Women’s Day, I want to shout out to all the little boys, teen boys, young adult men, young fathers and businessmen that gender equality, respecting one another, working as a team, collaborating like-minds are the 21st century skills we need to equip ourselves with.
Hi I’m Sandy!
As a positive parenting coach and Language specialist, my parenting workshops focus on helping parents to discover and develop the character strengths in their children. My 'How to Raise a Bilingual Child' course focus on helping parents to create a positive language learning environment at home.
Be a Positive Strengths-based Parent.
