Girls Girls Girls

When my boys were little, I was divorced and living a single mom's life. This included getting babysitters. I worked nights, so I could be with Shane and Sean most of their awake hours. This limited me to hiring teenagers. I couldn't complain about any of them, but sometimes they allowed the boys to do things that I didn't:  Like watch MTV.

One day I was driving in the car with my two little boys strapped in their car seats. Out of the. Blue, I  heard my two year old, Sean singing "Ghouls, ghouls,ghouls." .... Of course these are not lyrics you could recognize, but the tune was unmistakably Mötley Crüe's song.  "Girl, Girls,Girls." Now if any one of you are familiar with that video, It was full of girls in bikinis. Probably mild, compared to videos today, but disturbing none-the-less.


For the most part... I've been a big fan of girls.  I grew up with 3 sisters and no brothers!  It was a total girls world.  My poor Dad!  My Mom was such a great example to look up to, that it was very easy to idolize her. I wanted to be just like her.  I would watch her, mimic her and listen to her and her friends talk.  That is where I truly learned to love women.  I loved the way they shared their lives with each other, the way they learned and taught each other.  I watched them encourage, support and physically help each other.  I knew, beyond any doubt...I was glad that I was a girl!


Being a teenager in the 70's left no doubt in my mind that the women's movement was very popular.  So much so, that I got made fun of for wanting to be a wife and mom.  Well, to be honest with you...I didn't give as much thought into being a wife...but...I couldn't wait to be a mom. he he he.  I got married, thinking that I was going to have the "Leave it to Beaver" home...like my mom.  I wanted ALL of it.  I soon realized that my first husband was not  "Ward Cleaver", and the world around me, was not the world of my mother's.  


When I did finally have my first baby.  I became a stay at home, Mom! Yay! THAT is when I realized how much things had changed.  Very few women were home with their children; most had full-time jobs and had become very busy and tired!  I do believe that things have gone back a little now and that there are more stay-at-home, moms now, than in the early 80's, but...still nothing like my mom's early motherhood years. I felt very much alone in the world. 


So...do we women just live without the camaraderie of other women?  Do, we just sit and watch our daughters grow and live without the the encouragement of other women?  I hope not!  We women...learn best...from other women.  We need each other to reach our full potential!  We need each other to feel normal, beautiful and appreciated.  The list could go on and on, but...I think you get the picture. Fortunately for me, a couple of older women reached out to me, took me under their wings and helped fill the gap.


In my first marriage, we moved a lot, so each new place, brought new women, new friends to acquire. Most of us, working an outside job or not, are very busy, but...the time and attention you put into your girlfriends will be time that pays you back...many times over.  Reach out to women around you.  Ones you can teach, ones that will teach you.  Teach your daughters the importance of being surrounded by other women, old, as well as their peers.  Let's not be like most women in our society, criticizing and tearing each other down.  Let's be true comrades, lifting and encouraging each other as we go through the complexity of womanhood! 


"Thank You!" to all the women in my life, young, old and in-between!  Thanks for letting me listen, talk, cry, hug, and pray with you!  You all have had a part in making me the women that I am today.


Special thanks:  Mom, thanks for teaching me to embrace women, and not to just compete with them.  
To my sisters, who had a big part in making me.  Without a Jeanie, Debi and Lynn...how could there be a Sheryl?  Thank you, Mary Lou Beatty, for helping me remember who I was, and Pam McCord for helping me to accept that person.  The Lady who lived across the street from me in Springfield, who gave me a refuge.  My lovely Aunts, and my Mom's friends, who might not have even realized that I was listening to their conversations. :) The Lady who left a rose on my doorstep, when...I thought no one cared! To school teachers and Sunday school teachers! All my best friends through the years. So many, I can't mention all of them, but...thank you all for having a part in molding me. I am grateful.


Now it's your turn....who has made an impact on your life?