We received such an empowering story from Isabella:
My daughter came home from 3rd grade and announced that her civil rights had been violated. That morning she had gone off to school wearing a pair of brand spanking new patent leather Mary Janes, a gift from her grandmother. The teacher called her out, saying she should save her good shoes for church on Sunday.
When my daughter explained that she did not attend church, the teacher had each student stand up and tell the class what church they attended. My daughter discovered that she was a minority of one.
Now the miffed little girl wanted to know if Mom was going to talk to the principal about her civil rights.
I was just about to pick up the phone when something gave me pause. I wanted to empower her. So I asked my daughter if she was afraid to wear her Mary Janes to school tomorrow.
She said, “No.”
I said, “Good for you.”
Then I told her I didn’t need to fight this battle for her because she already won. And each day she strapped on her Mary Janes, she’d win again.
