Beyond the ABCs – Raising Kind Daughters

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We should focus on raising kind daughters because more than the need for doctors, engineers and leaders, the world needs more people who are compassionate and kind.

I have a daughter and her name is Ysabelle. She’s 6 years old but she can’t read yet. Out of the 26 alphabets, she can only memorize 18 of them and that’s on a good day.

And my heart aches.

It pains me not because my daughter can’t read like other kids her age but mainly because I know how harsh and cruel the world can be to those, who society perceive as “different”.

So as much as possible, we remind her of her how special she is and that we love her so much.

“What’s your superpower, again?” I would whisper to her ears.
“Kindness. I am super, super, super kind. Deep in my heart.” she’d whisper back.

My husband and I both know her strengths, it just so happened that reading isn’t one of them and it’s fine. Those 18 letters? We celebrate those triumphs, no matter how few they are.

We do our best to help her catch up on her milestones but we don’t force her to. We encourage and hopefully one day, the love for reading will be ignited.

I understand that reading is important but I also know that there are other important things aside from ABCs.

Like compassion.

Respect.

And kindness.

I don’t know if you’ve seen McDonald’s video “Laging Mahal ni Nanay at Tatay”

It reminds us that although how much we as parents rejoice in our children’s successes, we must not forget that they are KIDS. And they have minds of their own, dreams of their own and we can only do our best to support them in any way that we can.

Let us not forget to enjoy the little things with them right now because in a few years time, our kids will start to build lives of their own. One that may not always have us in the picture.

So while we slowly work on her reading, we immerse her with life lessons too.

How? By being good examples, by showing them how to share, how to be respectful to EVERYBODY, from their teachers, their grandparents, the vendors on the sidewalk down to the guy who fixes our roof.

These are the things that will help ensure that the world we are living in now, will still be a beautiful world for them in the future simply because they make it so.

Because more than the need for doctors, engineers and leaders, the world needs more people who are compassionate and kind.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post written by me in behalf of McDonald’s Philippines.