A Whole New World
After making the decision to spend more time with my daughter and less time in the office, I have decided to start a blog to document our time together... Since having a daughter I certainly see things in a new light. Things that didn’t bother me before now cause me sleepless nights. Off the cuff remarks offend me a little more than they did previously and people calling my daughter a Princess 24/7 was cute for the first few months but now it is starting to seriously annoy me, especially when I say:
I’m not sure why this annoys me as much as it does, I mean I love the Princess thing. I love the cartoons, I love watching them with my daughter, I love Princess parties with Afternoon Tea but I don’t love what they teach about how girls should interact with the world (bar Mulan, she does kick ass! Ha-ha). Why do girls need to act a certain way, why do they need to wait for a hero… why can’t they BE the hero? Since my daughter was born I’ve told her she can be whatever she wants, and I sincerely mean that (even though she doesn’t truly understand that yet! Ha-ha). There are no barriers in front of her and if the world puts them there we’ll break them down together – but if I’m not around I want her to know with absolute certainty that I’m 100% behind her breaking them down with her mom or by herself. I lived in China for over 10 years and slowly as I got to know 
more about the culture I was saddened many times when I’d say: “Congratulations guys, what a wonderful baby girl”, only to hear: “What’s wonderful? We will have to go again!” Then, when you have your own baby girl, you hear about the abortion rates and the male surplus (sometimes you even hear that nonsense from relatives!) and you think: “Man, China really needs to up its game!” A baby girl is a blessing that I never knew was possible; sweet, cute and makes me want to be a better man because I know that someday she’ll date, I’ll think he isn’t good enough, then we’ll fight but hopefully I’ll trust her to be the independent, clear thinking person that views the world with absolutely nothing in her way (and if he does turn out to be a b@£$tard, I hope that the fear of her ability to kick his ass will allow him to gracefully bow out and that she never has to use it!) 
So, I guess what I’m saying is that I want more for my little girl than to simply think that beauty is the battle that she needs to win. I want to raise a happy, well rounded daughter that doesn’t believe she needs to be saved by someone else, that she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to, and above all else, knows that she is at NO disadvantage being a woman – in fact I honestly see it as a bonus!
“She is NOT just a Princess, she’s gonna be a Kung Fu Master!” – something which has been dissed at every turning point! But my question is, “Why can’t she be a Kung Fu Master? Why can’t she kick ass and still be a Princess?”Kung Fu is one of the most graceful hobbies I’ve ever seen and it is a part of her culture, yet all I hear is (*Irish women voice) “No No No, she’ll be an Irish Dancer with those high kicks!”
I’m not sure why this annoys me as much as it does, I mean I love the Princess thing. I love the cartoons, I love watching them with my daughter, I love Princess parties with Afternoon Tea but I don’t love what they teach about how girls should interact with the world (bar Mulan, she does kick ass! Ha-ha). Why do girls need to act a certain way, why do they need to wait for a hero… why can’t they BE the hero? Since my daughter was born I’ve told her she can be whatever she wants, and I sincerely mean that (even though she doesn’t truly understand that yet! Ha-ha). There are no barriers in front of her and if the world puts them there we’ll break them down together – but if I’m not around I want her to know with absolute certainty that I’m 100% behind her breaking them down with her mom or by herself. I lived in China for over 10 years and slowly as I got to know 
more about the culture I was saddened many times when I’d say: “Congratulations guys, what a wonderful baby girl”, only to hear: “What’s wonderful? We will have to go again!” Then, when you have your own baby girl, you hear about the abortion rates and the male surplus (sometimes you even hear that nonsense from relatives!) and you think: “Man, China really needs to up its game!” A baby girl is a blessing that I never knew was possible; sweet, cute and makes me want to be a better man because I know that someday she’ll date, I’ll think he isn’t good enough, then we’ll fight but hopefully I’ll trust her to be the independent, clear thinking person that views the world with absolutely nothing in her way (and if he does turn out to be a b@£$tard, I hope that the fear of her ability to kick his ass will allow him to gracefully bow out and that she never has to use it!) 
So, I guess what I’m saying is that I want more for my little girl than to simply think that beauty is the battle that she needs to win. I want to raise a happy, well rounded daughter that doesn’t believe she needs to be saved by someone else, that she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to, and above all else, knows that she is at NO disadvantage being a woman – in fact I honestly see it as a bonus!Hoping to update this blog at least once a week, so I hope you guys will like, comment and share it - and spread the word that baby girls are awesome in any country!!
