My Tomboy Princess Essay

My daughter is not your average nine-year-old girl. In fact, Erica is a very different type of girl. Although, sometimes I struggle with the fact that she is not a “girly girl” like me, I have learned that it is best for both of us, if I let her make decisions about who she wants to be. I realize that my story may not be original, but I have created this lens to encourage other moms to let our little tomboys be who they want to be. After all, little girls are only little once, and my tomboy princess has plenty of time to be a girly girl someday if she wants too.

What do you do with a little girl who likes to wear her Easter dress while playing in the dirt? How about the little girl who wants to play football with the boys while wearing flip flops and sunglasses? Well you have two options, you can pull your hair out and scream at the top of your lungs that little girls don’t do these things, or you can do what I do and just let her do it. Don’t get me wrong you can cross your fingers and hope she grows out of it, but you must be prepared to accept it if she doesn’t.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I daydreamed about tea parties and envisioned a lifetime of pink and purple dresses. But, life doesn’t always work out the way you think it will. My little tomboy princess has had very different ideas about what she likes from a very young age.

From the time she could walk, it was obvious that my little princess was not your average girl. Instead, she is a very rambunctious little girl, who is full of big dreams and even bigger ideas.

I often get dirty looks from other moms because I don’t require my daughter to conform to what other moms expect from their 9-year-old girls. When she wanted to potty train in Thomas the Train underpants, I bought boys underwear for her because there was no little girl ones. When she picked a camouflage ball cap to wear with her play princess dresses, instead of a tiara, I let her. It wasn’t my choice, it was hers. I could have made her do what I wanted her to do, but then I would’ve have been teaching her that she had to be what everyone expected her too. Fortunately, I just couldn’t make myself do it.

I know some people may simply think this means she is spoiled. It certainly is not the case. I simply recognize that my daughter is thinking outside the box at a very young age. Instead of discouraging her to make her own decisions, I encourage her to think about all her choices, and to do what makes her happy. I don’t want to limit what she thinks she can and can’t do at such a young age by making her life gender specific.

I want her to reach for the stars and be everything she can be. How can I do this if I constantly try to label everything for her? I also want to encourage other moms to let their little girls be little and make their own choices. Let them pick between the doll and the toy train, don’t just assume they want the dolls. If they ask for blocks, don’t assume they want the girly blocks that come in the teapot. Let them pick. Not only will it help them to be stronger grown women, it will also help them to be independent at a young age. I expect my daughter to do great things because there are no limits being placed on what she can and can’t do in the world someday.

Do you have a tomboy princess? Let me hear about your experiences in the comments below.

I wanted to give my daughter a creative way to share her thoughts with the world, so I let her create a YouTube channel. Don’t worry…I am a helicopter mom and do all the uploads for her, but if you want to hear from a little tomboy princess that you can relate to, check out her YouTube videos below.

When I began this blog, my daughter was a very tomboyish seven year old. Today, she is a newly eleven year old, and things have began to change. For one, her normal T-shirt and jeans has been replaced with frilly skirts and shiny tops, and her ears are always full of earrings.

I’m not exactly sure when the change began, but it is definitely happening. However, she isn’t giving up the things she loves. For instance, she is still hunting in the woods with her dad and baiting her own hooks on the boat. Whether she continues to be interested in more girly things, or will only be interested in girly things a little, I am just glad to see her becoming her own person.