Here Come the Girls: The Gallery Week 30

Girls run strong in my family. I am one of two girls, just like my mother and her mother was one of SEVEN girls! My husband’s brother and sister each have three sons. We have three daughters. I would have been beheaded or divorced in Henry VIII time!

Saturday at the beach after a Birthday party – Sophie and a friend, taken by me!:

Thankfully, we live in an age when girls can do anything they put their minds and hearts to. My sister is an inspiration to me on this front – taking on the male dominated arena of science and coming out with a degree in Geophysics. She then went on to work on research ships in the wild North Sea, battling 6 metre waves and proving she was equally as strong as the rest of the mostly male crew. With the same company she was sent to Egypt to do land research and manage an all male Egyptian team! She went on to work in business and is now undertaking a PGCE to be a teacher of Physics.

My sister: Photo Credit: © MIKE HUTTON PHOTOGRAPHY

Woman can run countries, be doctors, lawyers, marines, play football and fight fires. The world is their oyster, isn’t it?

I am so proud to be a mother, just as I am so proud of my dear sister’s accomplishments in male dominated areas of work. We each have our own calling. As a stay at home mother some may say I’ve made sacrifices and let myself go in terms of a career. Well, I have made sacrifices in some ways, but when my children are old enough I will return to the paid workforce, I won’t be running a country, but that path isn’t for me. I have chosen to make being a stay-at-home parent my main focus (and am fortunate to be able to do so thanks to my supportive hubbie) and wish society as a whole would look upon this choice with more respect.

Me & Alice at Lyall Bay: Photo Credit: Daddy

When I travel overseas and fill in the various forms to enter another country I always stumble on the part that asks me to state my ‘occupation’. Why should I feel that writing, ‘Mother’ isn’t enough? Why do I toy with more ‘official’ sounding titles in my head such as ‘Domestic Engineer’, ‘Ambassador of Peace’, ‘Childcare Professional’… is it simply that I am not earning a wage and don’t have an official job description?

I have no one to give me an annual review. There are no promotions. There are no bonuses. But then, here I am wrong. I have three girls who give me all of these in their words, their expressions, their gestures and with their hearts. I know when I am doing well. I know when I could do better. Sometimes I lose my way, but they force me back on track.

The laughing sparkle in Alice’s eyes as she glances across at me is the best bonus in the world…

Seeing Sophie so confidently walk her own path and speak her mind is all the feedback I need…

Watching Charlotte blossom into a thoughtful, caring, intelligent young girl helps me to see the path we’ve walked and understand a little of where we are heading…

Here come the girls and my biggest hope is that they find the path that’s right for them and follow it with all their hearts.

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This post was inspired by ‘The Gallery’ at Sticky Fingers, with the prompt ‘Here come the girls’. Please visit ‘The Gallery‘ to see more wonderfully inspired photographs.