Your Daughter

If you want a daughter who leaves you

to explore the world, to find problems and solve them, to pursue dreams and make new ones, to share, to play, to fight, to work, to do, to be

then you must tell her goodbye (sometimes), let her go, then you must not hold her hand

let her lead (you) when she is ready

If you want a daughter who laughs at danger

to break down hegemonic, maybe heteronormative, definitely sexist institutions and patterns of being in this world, to rebel against silly systems that are antiquated and barriers, to march to her own internal cardiovascular rhythm

then you must tell her that she can’t do it in the hope that she overcomes, tell her that she is smart but can be smarter, throw her into the deep end of the pool, let her fail a thousand times in the hopes that she succeeds when it matters

let her lead (you) when she is ready

If you want a daughter who doesn’t think like you

to be open to a changing world, to push you to be so too, to be empathetic with others, to learn from the stories of others, to resist entrenched lies passed off as unchanging, unbiased truths, to be critical of the ideas of others

then you must ask her why in the hopes that she can be analytical and seek out truth even when it is not spelled out across the facade, challenge her, let her challenge you

let her lead (you) when she is ready