This week I got to see a movie (thank you to my lovely cousin for inviting me!) I LOVE going to the movies so it was a big treat for me and mid-week too! I got a lot more out of it than I bargained for though. We went to see a movie called “The Help.” My cousin said it was a chic flick but I don’t know if that’s what I’d call it! I guess it was because I was expecting a fluffy romantic comedy. That, it was not!
From the official website, it is about “three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk”. It is written from the perspective of African American maids, hence “the help.” The maids spend most of their lives looking after wealthy bigoted white women’s children as if they were their own but they are not allowed to use their toilets or eat at the same table. It was so moving and thought provoking. I still can’t believe that was only 50 years ago.
One of the main characters, Aibileen played by Viola Davis is raising a little white girl about the age of 2 or 3 while the mother is off playing bridge and socialising. She teaches the little one to be proud of herself by telling her to repeat…"I is kind, I is smart, I is important”. I was really struck by this and thought what a beautiful message this is to give to a little girl. I was also struck by how much she loved this little girl, given her circumstances.
While putting Miss 3 to bed tonight, I tried it out. I said to her quietly…”you are kind, you are smart, you are important.” To my shock and horror, she stopped me after “you are smart” and said…”I’m not smart, boys are smart…I am pretty.” I was almost too embarrassed to write this. Where does this come from?!!! I can understand the reference to pretty…she seems to have just discovered that boys and girls are different and delights in telling anyone she meets if they are a boy or a girl but when the hell did being smart become a boy trait???
I also read an article recently in” Sunday Life” I think and I apologise that I can’t remember the author. (When I find it I will add it in) She spoke about how we are just drawn to gush over how cute and gorgeous little girls are. She wrote of an experiment of meeting a friend’s little one and instead of gushing over her, she asked her what book she had read most recently. Very, very interesting I thought.
I am very grateful this week for a different perspective and way of thinking. I am going to pursue this quest with my girls to be more than just pretty faces. “They are kind, they are smart and they are important.”
Check out “Maxabella Loves” for more lovely grateful posts! This week, hosted by Kymmie at "a day in the life of us"
http://kympiez.blogspot.com/
