The Auntie Chronicles: Small but Mighty

Yesterday I went to pick up my niece from her daycare. Her parents were up north and weren’t going to make it home in time. My brother had asked me to babysit Niecelet.

I head out to the west end and after showing identification, got Niecelet. After telling me that her shoes were yucky, she cheerfully held my hand and we walked to the subway station.

Niecelet is two and likes to walk (run) everywhere. We were taking the TTC back to her home so that meant a lot of stairs. Niecelet happily navigated all the stairs while telling me she sang the ABCs.

What is all this leading up to? It’s this: two women cooed to us: “That’s a lot of stairs for a pretty little girl like you!” Fortunately Niecelet didn’t care but I wondered: What does being pretty have to do with walking up and down stairs? Are they suggesting that because she’s pretty she shouldn’t be on stairs? It’s not like I’m forcing her to walk. Am I overthinking this?

Niecelet is a pretty child but in our family we try not to emphasize prettiness above everything else. There’s brains, determination and ambition. We’re an ambitious family and there are certain expectations placed on all of us.

I’m already worried about how Niecelet will deal with the messages thrown at girls in our society. I like to think that the women and men who surround her: Her mother, grandmothers, aunts, father and grandfathers are all confident people.

In the meantime, Niecelet was happy walking up and down the stairs.

This is why I responded to the second person: “Oh, she’s fully capable of walking down the stairs and she’ll tell me when she’s tired.”

Loudly.