Balloon

One day, my daughter and I attended a market. It was fun and beautifully decorated with garlands, balloons, tinsel curtains. After a while, a man who was also an attendant, took out one of the balloon decorations from a booth and gave it to his son to play. Then, he took another balloon and gave it to his son again. My 7-year-old daughter looked at me and said, "mom, isn't that not nice? Like he's ruining the organizer's decoration".

She then asked my permission to speak to the man. I let her. So she, on her own, approached the man, and said, "sir, I think you shouldn't take the balloons like that. It's part of the decoration, it's not nice that you're ruining it"

The man looked at my daughter in shock, then looked at me. I just nodded and smiled, showing that I agree with my daughter, also showing that I have nothing to say or add because she is right. He replied to my daughter, "well, it's for my son. He wants a balloon, so if there's anyone to blame, it's my son", pointing at his toddler who I assume was around 3 years old.

I know he said that because he felt humiliated, shamed by a little girl, and I, as her parent, allowed her to shame him. But you see, she is right. And she was not being rude. She said it nicely. And to be clear, it's not "just a balloon". It's about taking what's not yours, even something as simple as a balloon.

My daughter might be little, but her point is valid. And adults need to accept that kids are allowed to voice out their concerns equally. The man just left. Yet I felt so proud of my girl. I want to raise my girl into a woman who speaks up. I want her to be fully comfortable in having opinions and voicing them out. In today's world, women are so often silenced. If we are loud, we are an inconvenience. But we should change that.