How Do I Raise a Daughter In A World So Different From My Own?

Every day I turn on the TV I see the same thing, images of a terrifying world. Social media feeds are filled with memes about our country’s current state of peril. It’s something I have never been more concerned with as I am now. Now I am a mother. I am a mother who looks at her daughter and wonders how I will teach her how to navigate this ever-changing world. When my daughter was first born I knew I had to worry about the basic life lessons.

How will I teach her about strangers?
How will I teach compassion? Sharing?
How will I teach how to be confident in herself?
How will I teach her to do the right thing?

But now, as if raising a child isn’t already a terrifying obsession with getting it right, I feel more overwhelmed than ever with the responsibility to get it right. Teaching the basics of humanity will no longer cut it. I now have to teach her how to exist in a world where humanity doesn’t always win.

How will I teach her that as a woman who should have every right of a man, she will have to work harder for everything?

How do I teach her to make her feminine health a priority when her options and rights are being limited daily?

How do I teach her the importance of standing up for her rights and beliefs and the rights and beliefs of others when I don’t feel I am not doing my part to set a good example?

This is not the world I remember growing up in. Maybe it is age, maybe it is motherhood, maybe it is because the headlines I read today are so terrifying. The world she will grow up in will be different from mine. She will need a louder voice, thicker skin, and heightened senses.

How does a mother teach these skills? Skills she may not personally possess.

Do I take her to a march where she can see powerful, passionate people stand up for what they believe in? Public gatherings are rarely peaceful these days. Rallies turn to riots. I would fear for her safety.
Do I let her watch live feed of a protest? Will she see anything other than people violently forcing their opinions on others while hundreds end up injured or arrested? How do I explain this world to her?

I do worry about preparing my child for her future in this world, but today, her childhood is precious. Her tenderness is something that we adults have long struggled to hold on to. Her natural ability to express herself, her needs, and her humbleness and willingness to apologize for her mistakes is something, I fear, that our current world is stripping us of. Humans with compassion are on the endangered species list.

I know in time I will have to find the ways to teach her about this volatile world we live in. I will have to teach her to use her voice, her heart, and her passion to push this world forward. But maybe for today I will bask in her innocence and let her remind me of the natural good that is born into the world.