Yesterday, I saw the picture above on someone’s Facebook timeline and immediately shared it. As a female child, I was never discouraged from doing anything I wanted to do. I was encouraged to try different things, explore my imagination and even pushed a little when a natural aptitude emerged.

Not all female children are so fortunate.

This morning, a friend of mine tagged me in this video and it spoke to me in so many ways.

Can we stop teaching our female children how to be “girls” and just allow them to be who they’re meant to be?

When my only daughter was about three years old, she was obsessed with fire trucks and Tonka trucks. She had three large fire engines, including her favorite, the hook and ladder. She didn’t grow up to be a fire fighter or a dump truck operator but we never discouraged her interests. I was guilty on occasion of the “don’t get dirty” and “put that down before you hurt yourself” talk but luckily, she was as stubborn as I am and got plenty dirty anyway.

Sometimes commercials don’t suck. Sometimes they’re worth holding your water for.

Thumbs up Verizon.