I am sorry, dear daughters that this morning you didn't write in your diary, "today the first woman was elected president". So sorry
(on Abigail's desk this morning, ready to write in her diary after she won)
This morning it felt like we were getting ready for a funeral as we were getting ready to leave for our schools.
Scott and I are devastated that a man filled with vanity, hate, arrogance, recklessness, and bigotry, is our next president.
Hillary Clinton was like all people, flawed, but she was resilient, intelligent, and a competent leader.
This morning I had to wake up my girls to the truth that this country elected a name calling man who never stopped commenting on how people ate, if they sweat too much before a debate, what they looked like. And I kept thinking this morning...
You teach your children not to be a bully. We elected one.
You teach your children to be kind and thoughtful. We elected a president who is proud to be rude, distasteful and mean.
I will teach my daughters that men to look up to are ones that respect women, speak kindly about them, see and treat them like people and not objects. We elected a man that bragged about assaulting women.
You teach your children not to call names, pick on people for the way they look, sound, act, and where they are born. We elected a man that does all that. He mocked a disabled man, bragged about assaulting women, and spouted racism, anti-Semitism, and misogyny for 18 months.
I heard Hillary's concession speech in the car today, live. I was driving home from delivering dinner to dear friends who are battling cancer, and I thought it was brilliant. I can assure you one thing, if he had to give a concession speech it would not have been graceful. He would have blamed, name called, and pouted. She called the country to unity. She didn't criticize or hate. She was smart and I felt sad.
I loved this part that she said,
"And to all the little girls who are watching this,
never doubt that you are valuable and powerful
and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve
your own dreams." ~Hilary Clinton, November 9, 2106 11:52 am
So write THAT in your diary, dear daughters. Write those beautiful, powerful, amazing words.
