How I teach my daughter about accountability, confidence and living life to the fullest

A Millennial Mom’s Tips to Raising an Empowered Daughter

When I became a mom, one of my goals was to teach my daughter about accountability, confidence and how to live life to the fullest in an inspiring and adventure-filled way. My goal was to make the whole teaching process fun and effortless so, what better way to do that but to teach through modelling.

I’ve collected several videos from our random adventures to inspire your journey to raising yours.

Show that you’re happy to be with her

We all know taking care of kids has its many ups and downs. It requires an endless supply of energy, patience and love. I tested my capacity to remain fun and cool when I took my daughter on our first international trip to Hong Kong. The short flight was like my way to test the whole experience of flying solo with my toddler. If she wanted to stretch her legs, we walked together. If something caught her attention, I explained it to her. If it was time to sit properly, I gave her toys to keep her occupied. With a lightweight umbrella type stroller, one suitcase and endless supply of patience, we travelled like we own the place!

Confidence to put yourself out there

She started playschool when she turned 13 months old, but it wasn’t until she transferred to a new school when we had our first family day activity in school. It was a chance for her to show her sporty side, which I thought was unusual for a three-year-old toddler. We joined games together, played in a team and even won our first Gold medal.

Responsibility starts at home

For a while, we tried having a full-time nanny but only on those hours that I needed to focus on my home-based work. But the idea of someone rushing to pick up a spoon that my daughter dropped didn’t feel right to me. I had to stop the nanny from her tracks but instead told my daughter to pick up her spoon from the floor. I thought it was my role to teach my daughter the basic stuff about being responsible. In our home, we clean after ourselves but we also accept the fact that we can’t do everything, so we took in a stay-out helper, turned friend, to help us with our once a week general cleaning at home.

Courage to discuss sensitive matters

A relative passed last January, and I couldn’t miss the chance to pay my respects. As always, I brought my daughter with me and just like how I explain things during our travels, I did the same when we attended the funeral. It was a bit hard to explain the “circle of life” to a toddler only because as much as possible I want to keep things light on such a heavy topic. I knew she was getting the idea when she started asking: “Am I going to be dead also, Mom?”

Make her feel that girls can go places

I have this weird belief about girls who drive. If you can drive, you don’t need to wait for someone to be available to take you places. If you can drive, it’s so easy to go wherever you want to go. Seeing my cousin, when she was young, driving us around town to fun and cool places, inspired me to do the same for my kid. And oh! She was featured on this road trip vlog with my daughter. We drove to Tagaytay to visit my cousin, her Tita Shawon (Sharon).

Embrace her adventurous spirit

There is the Tiger Mom, the Helicopter, the Smother Mom and so on but I didn’t know that there’s another kind that I created that describes my mom style. You guessed it right?! The Zip Line Mom! Just like my interview session yesterday from a student having her Post-graduate thesis, the Zip Line Moms are those moms who try an experience with her kids no matter if it’s too simple for her or totally out of her comfort zone.

Making things happen

My daughter is in this phase wherein she wishes to have many things in her young life. If she sees wings, she wants to have wings. If she’s on a beach, she wishes to have a beach too. So, when she saw a Barbie series wherein Barbie was riding a horse… well you know! But because we couldn’t afford to get her a horse, we went for the next thing possible. I let her rode one when we went to this farm. In this video, she has a horse. Wish granted!