Firefighters

Notice how I didn't write "firemen"?

This morning I had an interesting conversation with the Princess on the way to preschool.

We had just passed the firehouse that we drive by on preschool days.

Prin: "Mom. Danny (a boy at school) says firemen. He doesn't say firefighters like we do."

Me: "Oh, he does?"

Prin: "I tried to tell him that girls can be firefighters, so that's why we don't say firemen."

Me: "And what did he say?"

Prin: "He say that only boys can be firefighters."

Me: "What did you say to him about that?"

Prin: "I told him that girls CAN be firefighters."

Me: "Well. I guess he's never seen a female firefighter."

Prin: "Yeah. Maybe that's why he thinks only boys can be."

Me: "Remember how we used to see that one female firefighter when we were grocery shopping?"

Prin: "Yeah. She was really nice. Maybe one day Danny will see a female firefighter. Then he'll realize girls can do that job too."

My girl. She's already had to defend that girls can be in the tough job of a fire fighter. She knows that girls can be strong. I hope to continue to keep her thinking POSITIVE about what girls/females can accomplish in their lives - whatever they decide to focus upon.

What I find interesting is that Danny has an older sister. I wonder what she is going to aspire to be?