Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Happy Birthday, Buttercup!

Happy Birthday, Buttercup! 
Purple: a stunning color on you, and your 2nd favorite, after blue
Buttercup is dictating the color choices on the post today because today our "Lonely Only" (Girl) turns 3. She is so spunky, smart and articulate - and such a great joy to have in our lives. I wrote her birth story out last year, so this year, I'm writing a letter - mostly of advice - but really just in a vision of the kind of Lady she'll hopefully one day be.


Dear Girlie,


In spite of not watching TV, you get your "screen time" in by doing "Letters" on Microsoft Word, watching Starfall or Netflix videos or sneaking off to steal time on your brothers' Nintendo DSs. It cuts down on how many commercials you see, but somehow "princess" has started to creep into your vocabulary. We're working hard to change princess into Queen




What's the difference? Queens lead; princesses wait for Prince Charming to come to the rescue. Some of the newer Disney princesses (so I'm told) are more proactive, but with the way they dress and act... well, we can make better choices than that. So instead, we're trying to emphasize Queens in history.


I'd so much rather you look to women like this... 


Grace O'Malley - Pirate queen of Ireland in the 1500s. If you'll excuse using WikiPedia as a source, it appears that even as a child, Queen O'Malley was as spunky as you are. "According to Irish legend, as a young girl Ní Mháille wished to go on a trading expedition to Spain with her father, and on being told she could not because her long hair would catch in the ship's ropes, she cut off most of her hair to embarrass her father into taking her,"


Zenobia - Who led a revolt against the Roman empire and expanded her own Palmyrene Empire during her reign. I love that she was described as chaste, well educated and also hardy enough to ride and hunt with her officers!



for your influence and inspiration on who you'll be as an adult. If you find someone to marry, I hope you'll choose a gentleman, one who can love and respect a strong woman (and her opinions!) but who will love you enough to be kind and caring and who will throw the flag when you're wrong on an issue. There are other strong women leaders out there (check here for lots of names!) I don't agree with everything they've done but I hope that you'll look to those influences and to the strong women that you see in church each week, for qualities worth emulating. 


Look not only to the warrior-queens, but also to the Queens-of-Home, those who have decided that being in charge of hearth and home are worthy of time and talent as well. Don't be too proud to help sweep the kitchen floor or put away the dishes - or to learn to bake a good bread loaf. So far, you're on a great track for all of these things and more! 


You are a beautiful girl, but I try to use words that remind you that how you are inside matters more. Looking to your heart, I would use more words like spunky, hardy, and firecracker for you. You are determined and super-smart, looking to your brothers to see how to act and what to try next. I hope, as you get older, that you keep trying for more, that you keep learning from those who have gone before you, and that you keep your spunky, firecracker qualities alive to help brighten the world as you move through it.




You change your clothes many times a day on laundry day! The shirt is a favorite :)

Love, 
Mama


Normally I display the little Linky "buttons" for the sites I've linked to, but since this post doubles as a letter to my daughter for her 3rd birthday, I'm putting simple tags this time. The ladies running the blogs below write good and inspiring - and often humorous - things that I am frequently inspired and uplifted by.

4 comments:

  1. Very nice. Hard to believe she's three!

    Don't forget Tomyris ... my personal favorite warrior queen. Kurds still name their girls after her, in honor of Tomyris. The Arabic is something like Tahm Raymis.

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  2. And Empress Taitu of Ethiopia, and Elizabeth I, and Catherine, and Zoe, and...

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  3. I knew you all would have more to offer - you are awesome. She'll be a strong young lady with this crew to guide her!

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  4. Well -- she'll be strong, or she'll disembowel some hapless young man ... we'll see.

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I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

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