On The International Day Of The Girl Child My Question Is: Why Don't Girls Rule The World?

Now tell me I am not alone here… in thinking that my daughter is FAR smarter than my boys, far more capable, far more empathetic… she can do so many things they haven’t even thought of trying, she’s the only one who brings me a cup of tea in bed…. she just seems so much more on the ball….

Why don’t girls rule the world?

Why aren’t women in charge of everything?

And I’m as confused on today’s International Day Of The Girl Child as I am on every other day of the year.

Now today is not really about my young lass of eight years, who lives in a highly developed country, with access to excellent health care. She’s getting a great education and lives in a (more or less, sort of) stable family… and the only child labour she has to endure is helping me and her brothers keep our own house in order.

No, today we need to focus on girls around the world who deserve the good parts of the lives our own girls live in Australia.  And I think there’s an easy way to help out, which benefits us too.

This Christmas (I can’t believe I wrote that word in October) I will be buying lots of gifts that are really bloody useful.

We do this in my family a fair bit, my sisters, mum and I… and this year I’ve extended it to the younger folk. My niece and nephew gave chickens and ducks to people who needed them when they turned 16. I’m not sure they were impressed about it but it felt good to me.

I will buy some pressies for my kids too but they’ll also be gifting useful items instead of collecting more STUFF THEY DON’T NEED.

World Vision has some excellent gifts that help girls.  What do you think of these?

If you sponsor a child, then you’re already helping that child get a good education. Being a mother of twins myself, I was so thrilled to read a story about Zambian twins Kunda and Chansa who were sponsored as children and who have recently graduated from university. Their story is here.

Here’s a fab one minute video about girls and education:

Working For Gender Equality For Women and Girls Worldwide is a post on the World Vision site for to mark the International Day of The Girl Child. Well, worth a red.

I am painfully aware of this small planet’s huge inequalities. My own daily blindness to it appals me.  For the money I pay for my four kids’ education, I could open a whole school in a developing country.

I know, I do know….

Just for today, I’m still living this very Aussie life… very, very grateful to be bringing up my girl child here. Also very willing to celebrate the Day Of The Boy Child with gusto when it comes.

Do you buy gifts that do good too, amidst the Xmas madness?

Are you thinking of the gifts your own girl child brings you today too?

Let’s love our girls today and every day… I’m off to show the boys how to make me a cup of tea.