Me, I am my kids' teacher

Lydia and I just finished another book that found its place in our Top Five. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink written in 1935. A fantastic book about a little pioneer girl growing up in Wisconsin during the Civil War (we just can't seem to get away from that era). Caddie is a tomboy and it vexes her mother very much that Caddie doesn't seek to do lady things like make quilts and cook jam, preferring to romp in the woods with her brothers or sneak off to nearby Indian camps. Sounds a little like someone we know.

Caddie got into a bit of trouble. She pulled a prank on her prissy cousin from Boston and got switched good by her mother and sent to bed. After tossing on her bed all day (without supper of course), her dad came to talk to her. And here is a speech every Father should give his daughter ... I love it so much that I am RETYPING it!

"... Perhaps Mother was a little hasty today, Caddie. She really loves you very much, and, you see, she expects more of you than she would of someone she didn't care about. It's a strange thing, but somehow we expect more of girls than of boys. It is the sisters and wives and mothers, you know, who keep the world sweet and beautiful. What a rough world it would be if there were only men and boys in it, doing things in their rough way! A woman's task is to teach them gentleness and courtesy and love and kindness. It's a big task, too, harder than cutting trees or building mills or damming rivers. It takes nerve and courage and patience, but good women have those things. They have them just as much as the men who build bridges and carve roads through the wilderness. A woman's work is something fine and noble to grow up to, and it is just as important as a man's. ... I don't want you to be the silly, affected person with fine clothes and manners, whom folks sometimes call a lady. NO, that is not what I want for you, my little girl. I want you to be a woman with a wise and understanding heart, healthy in body and honest in mind. Do you think you would like to be growing into that woman now?"

Love Caddie. Love her daddy.

Posted in: on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at at 5:57 PM