Lessons from Val's day

It was Valentine's days. For me, it was an opportunity to discuss what love meant with my 15 and 12 year old daughters. My 15-year-old (Semilore) sees every discussion as an opportunity to remind anyone that cares to listen about feminism and gender equality.
I planned to teach them about self-love and seizing every opportunity to show those around you love. In the end they taught me.
They taught me what will be focus for this next year- If we love someone we will allow them to be who and what they choose to be. We will give them the freedom and opportunity to be themselves no matter what they are.
In Nigeria, we bring girls up to be wives and mothers. We limit them to those roles that we have created for them because that is what is comfortable for the society. We forget that they are individuals who have passions, dreams and aspirations. We 'created' what a girl/woman should be and expect all females to fit into that. That is not love.
If you love that girl child/woman, give her the opportunity and freedom to be herself. To be a free person not shackled by societal expectations and judgements. Support her to be free indeed