I befriended an 8 year old girl, a few years ago, and she wanted to know “what I was.” I told her I was a daughter, sister, friend, employee, co-worker, homeowner, artist, writer, daydreamer and many other things.
The titles I gave myself didn’t mesh with the workings of her brain. I am clearly not a kid and yet I have no children and no husband, so I am not a mom or a wife. Those were the only roles she had in mind. Occasionally, she would ask me something about “my daughter” and confusedly, I would wonder “Who?” She was referring to my sister. Her brain just could not grasp the fact that an adult could exist without a spouse and/or children.
After 8 years of life, it was clear that she had been exposed to very few single, childless adults. I hope that my relationship with her has made, and will continue to make, her aware of all the roles a person can play and that she has the potential to grow up to be many different things…including a mother and wife, if fate should have it so.
