Raising a Little Girl

About two years ago, I learned that I was pregnant with a little girl. Our family of two was growing to include a daughter, a precious beautiful little girl we met a few months later.

I was incredibly excited to be having a daughter, though the more I thought about it, anxiety began to creep in a little bit. If we were having a boy, the masculine responsibilities would fall on my husband to teach him to be all that was expected of a little boy. But, we were blessed with a little girl, and that responsibility was on me.

As the woman of the family, it would be my responsibility to show Elliana how to be a little girl. To be gentle and sweet, empathetic but not a crybaby. Loving and kind, yet not a pushover or too soft-spoken. The pressure was on, even if just imagined or concocted by my own mind.

During pregnancy, I heard that the first year of life...all babies were about the same regardless of anatomy. They ate, slept and played. No defining boy/girl characteristics or pressures to succumb to. This was music to this momma's ears and took the pressure off for a while.

Looking back, I really wonder why I was ever nervous about having a daughter. Elliana seems to have "girliness" stamped in her DNA. At just a few months old, Elliana would dance with happiness when I asked her if she wanted to go shopping. By 10 months of age, Elliana would "steal" my purse, throw it over her shoulder and head for the door.



At almost 19 months, the girliness has only been enhanced. Elliana loves to pull shoes out of my closet and prance around the house in my high heels. On more than one occassion, Elliana takes my lipstick out of the diaper bag and generously applies it to her baby lips. If another child is crying, Elliana says "uh-oh, oh no" until the child is calm again. When wearing dresses, Elliana instinctually twirls around the room to show off her dress like a princess at a royal ball.



I can't imagine my life without Elliana as my daughter, and rather than full of anxiety that the responsiblity to raise a girl is mine...I am filled with joy and gratitude.