To Naomi In A Few Years

Little girl you are one spirited little ass kicker.

You're direct. You're hands on. You're sure about what you want. You're damn sure about how you want it.

The world isn't always a fan of girls being like you and certainly not of women being like you.

They're going to tell you to be 'nice'.

Nice is a stupid word. It means nothing. Its not a goal. Its certainly not a way to behave.

You don't have to be mean. Or rude. Or mean spirited. Those aren't ways to behave either.

And being a brat is completely not acceptable.

Do without the nice tho.

Do without the 'be good' crap too.

Be you.

You is hands on and intense and certain and curious.

I'll probably be one of those ass holes who asks you to be nice. Or who asks you to tone it down. Or who points out that you might get more cooperation from the world if you'd ask nicely.

I'll probably get really mad at you when you tell me to stick up right up my ass when I say that. And I do hope that's what you say.

Be good to yourself and be you. And you has many faces. And you has many ways of being. And you doesn't have to fit in. You can get your hands dirty in life. You can speak up when things don't seem quite right. You can be a lot of things.

Do those things. Be you. My heart will break the day you start being nice because you're supposed to be nice. It will break in a million pieces the day you tone yourself down for fear of being seen as too direct or too smart or too loud.

Be a good, kind, giving person while you get up in people's faces and say what you see.