So it started with the Little Yellow Corvette—Mari would wheel it up and down the driveway, whipping it around rocks and dipping between the trees and pumping up the volume on the little radio station she had tuned on Radio Disney. Somewhere along that journey, the girl convinced herself that she could drive. Um, a real car. In fact, when I'm exhausted and don't feel like driving, the 10-year-old often raises her hand and offers to take the wheel.
Right.
Let's just say my Mari is a confident little girl. She's good at a lot of things—writing, soccer, art, playing the trumpet, cleaning the kitchen, cooking—and she's not afraid to tell it. In fact she solidified this sentiment last night as she was preparing a writing lesson she's teaching her classmates on Friday—an assignment her teacher awarded her for being, well, a good writer.
Nick: Are you nervous about your teaching?
Mari: No.
Nick: So you're good at teaching just like you are driving, huh?
Mari: Yup.
Nick: So you just think there's nothing you can't do, huh?
Mari: Um, well maybe I can't sky dive.
Jesus be a confident 10-year-old with no fear, nerves of steel and the backbone of a gladiator.
Work, Mari.
Work.
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She sounds like a very strong girl and if that is a testament to how she will be when she is a woman then you have done a wonderful job as a parent.
ReplyDeleteI love her fiesty spirit! she's going places, for sure!
ReplyDeleteYes, Ma'am! Maybe after she's done teaching her class on Friday, she could start up some workshops for grown ups who have lost their confident inner 10-year-olds! This is heart-warming and high five-inspiring! Mari, do yo' thang, Ma, and remind us that we can conjur up our Mari-inspired mojo whenever and wherever we need to!
ReplyDeleteLove it! :) My 10 year old, Briyana, came and exclaimed to me the other day, "I taught Talia multiplication and she caught on pretty quickly!" haha Talia is her 7 year old sister. Oy! What are we going to do with these GROWN ten-year-olds?? :)
ReplyDeleteyou see what you did? you and Nick raised that baby to be as fierce as y'all are. and now she's putting it on you. and the world. i, for one, am ready for ms mari and ms lila to show their stuff to the world. we need more fearless black women to do their thing. that's who you can be when you know you're smart, talented, loved and supported. congrats to y'all for gifting us with these young world-changers-to-be!
ReplyDeleteI think there is something about first-born girls having nerves of steel and chutzpah. Asha Ming is full of energy, smart and confident. She's only 8 and Chanel and I are afraid of the 10-year-old version to come!
ReplyDeleteAt 10, I was shy, timid, and kept to myself. Your daughter rocks!
ReplyDeleteI love it. When I think back to this age I was shy and definitely not confident. My hat goes off to her and big a high five to keep it going! She will definitely do great things!
ReplyDeleteKudos to her parents as well!