Stop asking for permission when you have privilege.

“Stop asking for permission when you have privilege.” This what I used to tell my kiddos when they were single digits old.

When my kids were younger and they’d place their order in a restaurant , they used to begin with “can I have”.

Of course you can we’re here to eat...now what do you want? I taught them to say “I’d like ____.”

As they got older I told them to start preferring things and making it known. “I’d like ____ and I’d like it this way.”

This was true for our boys and girl in different ways.

I wanted to make sure our boys stated for themselves what they liked or didn’t like, because in today's culture that disparages men and masculinity, their preference matters.

I wanted our daughter to speak up for herself what doesn’t feel appropriate, even if she doesn’t quite know why.

This is also why I have never subscribed to any racial or manmade social advantage.

I do not teach my children to be prepared for a world that does not receive them.

That their skin color or gender are a liability, that they must work harder than others to be recognized, or for a world that is not prepared for their genius.

That’s the struggle bus and we don’t ride that.

I teach them the world is a reflection of their greatness, their divine lineage, their generosity, their love, their abundance, their inherent goodness and their creative imaginations.

The world is READY for them to show up, and has been making way for them all this time.

I had to teach myself these things too, for I had been conditioned in many ways to believe otherwise.

Now that the jig is up, life gets to be a whole new playground with many new playmates to go frolic with.