It always breaks my heart to think of all those moms who have to suffer only because they gave birth to girls. And all those daughters who are not given the love and respect they actually deserve.
When my second daughter was born, people were really worried about us. And they were so concerned that they used to ask me questions and give comments –
“Are you happy?”
“Don’t you think your family would have been complete if it was a boy?”
And even if I didn’t say anything to everyone except few close ones, I actually wanted to lash out at all of them and wanted to say, “They are our daughters and we are going to raise them. Why are you so worried?”
In our society, people want a son as they feel daughters are ‘Praya dhan’ and sons are the ones who are going to take care of them in the old age. My question to all of them, “What is the surety that your son is going to stay with you in your old age?” We have so many examples in our friend circles where sons are settled out of the country for work and daughters are nearby and taking care of the parents.
My daughters are my priority and I am proud of them. I do not see them as a burden and I do not agree with those who think that girls are any less than boys. Just ask those who do not have kids. Do you think a boy or a girl matters to them?
[bctt tweet=”We should be happy with a healthy child rather than worrying about the gender of the child. #Parenting #Daughters” username=”Deepagandhi1″]
Let’s raise our girls to be strong, Independent and capable. We should not give them a gender biased upbringing.
My parents never discriminated between my brother and me and I am proud of my upbringing. Therefore, same way, I also want to give the best of everything to my girls. I cannot change what others think but I can just hope for a change and a better and beautiful world for our daughters.
I am writing about Parenting for A to Z challenge and sharing my thoughts as a mother of a teen and a tween. Sharing my personal experiences as a mom and hope to help other moms and also learn from them through this challenge. Read all posts here.
A for Affection
B for Believe
C for Confidence
D for Dance
E for Extracurricular
F for Food
G for Guilty
H for Hacks
I for Independent
J for Joint or Nuclear
K for Kindness
L for Looks
M for Money
N for Nutrition
O for Overprotective
P for Poles apart
Q for Questions
R for Reading
S for Summer Vacations
T for Temper Tantrums
U for Unwanted pressure
V for Visit
April 28, 2017 at 4:52 am
My husband and I are proudly and happily raising two girls. I love that I live somewhere where this is not a concern. And I look forward to the day where that is the case everywhere.
April 28, 2017 at 9:22 am
Thanks Louise 🙂
April 28, 2017 at 9:53 am
I agree with you here, Deepa. It is important that one has a healthy child and gender has no role to play at all.
April 28, 2017 at 12:31 pm
Thanks Ramya 🙂
April 28, 2017 at 9:56 am
I love my daughter.Everyday I ws pregnant I prayed I have a daughter.As you correctly said the bring warmth and fragrance to life.Lovely post and I am still gettig that question indirectly
April 28, 2017 at 12:32 pm
Me too..we have all well-wishers everywhere. 🙂 Thanks Amrita.
April 28, 2017 at 12:00 pm
A very nice article Deepa, close to my heart. Glad gender reveal is not allowed in India otherwise so many girls would have been killed before birth. Most of people I know are getting cared by their daughters not Son. Even then people don’t get it right. Pity on them.
April 28, 2017 at 12:26 pm
Thanks Upasna ..glad you liked it:)
April 28, 2017 at 12:33 pm
Given a choice I would always like a Daughter. I don’t know when people will stop this craving for a son, in India.
April 28, 2017 at 12:35 pm
Thanks Mayuri 🙂
April 28, 2017 at 12:43 pm
I deeply appreciate you brought this up buddy and trust I was the one who always wanted a daughter. There is no one as precious as our princesses and you are doubly blessed.
April 28, 2017 at 3:36 pm
Thanks Roma 🙂
April 28, 2017 at 4:00 pm
Oh, how I wish I had a daughter! My son is adorable but daughters are daughters. I am the perfect example for the fact you’ve stated here, son’s don’t necessarily live with their parents. My brother lives abroad while I live close to my parents, taking care of them. Actually I feel daughters are more attached to their families than son’s Great to know that you’re proud of your daughters.
April 28, 2017 at 4:10 pm
Thanks Vinodini for sharing your thoughts 🙂
April 28, 2017 at 4:56 pm
I think the deeply ingrained ‘law’ of daughters having to move away after marriage is the root of all problems. If only people gave their daughters and daughters-in-law enough freedom to earn and travel, they would have no trouble taking care of their parents in their old age.
April 28, 2017 at 6:03 pm
Agree..Thanks for reading 🙂
April 28, 2017 at 5:39 pm
Our society certainly needs a sea change in its mindset and it’s time we stop this discrimination.
April 28, 2017 at 6:27 pm
Our society needs a sea change in its mindset. It’s time we let go of this gender discrimination.
April 29, 2017 at 9:33 am
Thanks Shilpa 🙂
April 28, 2017 at 10:53 pm
Times and attitudes change slowly. I am proud of my daughter and daughter-in-law. They are strong, independent women who are raising their own strong, independent daughters.
You are doing a wonderful job of parenting, and do not let anyone else tell you differently.
April 29, 2017 at 12:01 am
Thanks a lot, Cheryl. It means a lot. 🙂
April 29, 2017 at 1:24 am
Ha! My mom says even if God gives her a chance to have a baby now, she will still wish for a girl 🙂 Yeah, we are two daughters.
P,S: Yes, I’m back. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement.
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April 29, 2017 at 8:55 am
Thanks Shalini 🙂
April 30, 2017 at 1:13 pm
woa…. the gall of those people to ask that question. Can’t believe in this age people still treat girls as Paraya dhan.