Moxie runs in the family

Last week I discovered the blog Redefining Girly through the Bloggy Body Calendar on Facebook. Jodi and I had been discussing the site and all it stands for (really, go check it out) when later on she said, “but Jennifer I’ve never been a ‘pigtail’ girl.” I responded that I had always been that way.

I know one of the reasons I can say I’m a “pigtail” girl is because of my grandmother. A while back I wrote about my grandmother and how she was a Woman With Moxie. I know I that I inherited that moxie from my mom and she got it from hers.

I’m not sure I’m organized enough to do a series, or articulate enough to communicate the things that I want to communicate, but I would like to explore this subject more and I’m going to (try) to write about it regularly (until my ideas run out). To start, here is a story about me.

When I was in high school I worked as a cashier at a local grocery store. It was the same one that my Mom had worked at when my parents divorced so she knew all of the managers, and they all knew me. I was a senior and already engaged and at least needed to feel like I was contributing something to the expenses. Plus my mom and stepdad had just gotten me a car and I needed gas money.

David and I went to church every Sunday and it was really important to me to keep going. I made a deal with the Store Manager that I would work every Friday and Saturday night if he would let me have Sundays off so I could go to church. He agreed because he had known my mom forever, and he never made me work every Friday or Saturday. Lots of them, but not all.

A couple of months after I started he left the store and the owner’s son took over his position. One night while I was working I got a call back to the new Store Manager’s office. He told me that some of the other cashiers were complaining because I got every Sunday off . I don’t know if he knew about the deal I had made or not, but he asked me if I would be willing to work Sundays.

Here I was, 18, in my bosses office, and not just any boss, but the OWNER’S son. I was really nervous, but I looked right him and said, “No. I would not be willing to work Sundays.” Then I explained the deal I has set up with the previous manager and the reason behind it. Then I asked, “did any of the people complaining make the same offer.”

He never made me work a Sunday.

Standing up for yourself, girl power, moxie, or whatever you want to call it is important. It is a trait we need to find and embrace in ourselves, but even more it is a trait we need to instill in our daughters. I think girls today need to know two things, 1) that we will stand up for them, and 2) how to stand up for themselves.

When was a time you stood up for yourself? How are you teaching your daughter to do the same?