Isabella turned 14 last week. For every new parent out there, beware the time is fleeting. For every older parent out there you know better than we do how fast the time goes. She is beautiful inside and out, compassionate with a soft spoken kindness and intelligent with a wonderfully witty sense of humor. We love this kid so much, we couldn’t be more proud of the young woman she has become and we are so excited to see what her future holds.

But (and there is always a but!) – are we doing the right job with our girls? So many thoughts are going through my mind as we raise these two young women and today’s one of those days that I’m so glad Isabella and I had an impromptu conversation in the kitchen. These chats that we have always provide insight into her thought process and help me understand if some of the lessons we are trying to teach (whether subtle or not so subtle) are resonating with her.

We celebrate the changing role of women by talking about real life examples within our own circles.  Many a conversation has been had with the kids comparing the lives of our grandmothers and their friends, with my mother and MIL and with my friends, sisters and cousins and how our perspective is changing and different then the the current day reality for my girls, most is better yet oddly so much of it remains the same. But there is so much more that can be done.

This is such a big subject but such an important one with two young women growing up in our home. Yes we implore that being a strong woman is important. We try to give real life examples. We stress education, compassion, empathy, independence and self reliance.

But what I’m questioning in myself is whether I am doing enough. Today is one of those days where I feel like I sit on the sidelines a lot. I believe in these qualities and I try to live by example but am I doing enough? For my girls and for all the other women out there? I feel like my voice should be louder. I feel like we all have lots of stories to tell, experiences to share and that maybe this will inspire my girls and this next generation of women.

What do you do to inspire young women?