Today is International Women’s Day and all about women and their supporters across the world joining together to advocate for women’s rights, gender equality, and equal representation.
This year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity – join Betsy and myself and #EmbraceEquity – strike the pose 2023 – show the world your huge embrace and don’t forget to share your awesome photos with us! 🤗
#EmbraceEquity
I am proud to have strong family members, friends and colleagues (past and present) that represent women’s voices and talents. Betsy is also lucky to have this support network around her too – she has and continues to be inspired by her fantastic teachers at #BLVIS, peers and loved ones!
It’s true to say that bringing up a girl is completely different to a boy and possibly a little more challenging – all though the jury is definitely still out on that one!!
I don’t think I was naturally born to ‘raise girls’ and it always makes me laugh when I think back to my NCT group days when I was pretty much the only mum to be feeling happy in the knowledge that I was having a boy rather than a girl. Second time round, I’d convinced myself that I was having another boy, so it came to be a bit of a shock when they told me I was in fact expecting a little girl. I’d always been a blue girl and the colour pink wasn’t even on my radar!
Nothing however has prepared me for the bond I have with Betsy and the love I have for her! She is my #BestGirl and I adore being around her, even if it can feel like walking on a tightrope at times.
I’m really excited for her future – women such as the England #Lionessess are totally inspiring and other’s such as our late Queen have left us with a lasting legacy – female empowerment. Campaigns such as ‘This Girl Can’ and impressive female achievements are everywhere, however depression and anxiety are very real threats.
It’s true to say that being a mum is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, but also dealing with fears you never knew existed and one fear that I have is how I go about making sure that I raise a strong independent daughter. What’s the secret in raising a happy, confident girl?
Confidence is something that Betsy really struggles with – we all need praise, but Betsy needs that little bit extra – reassurance that she can do something! Being told that ‘This Girl Can‘!
Loving yourself has to be a good starting point and something I definitely have to work towards daily! Research shows that how a girl feels about her appearance is largely determined by how her mum regards her own. Here’s hoping that when Betsy sees me taking on a running challenge, wearing no makeup and dancing around the kitchen that I’m teaching her to love her body!
Whatever the future holds, I promise to do my best to help Betsy-Boo become her best, well-rounded self who will celebrate being a girl and her achievements as a women…
This #IWD2023 celebrate women’s achievement, raise awareness about discrimination and take action to drive gender parity.
#MyWorld 