Mamas aren't hatched competent and ready made; they are born with their babies, often have NO idea what they're doing and grow into their mama role. Slowly!! Haha... feels like after nearly 14 years I'm still growing into the whole mama idea. But Dr Google and I have done a pretty good job so far, if the beautiful, smart and sassy young woman who is my only daughter is the benchmark of my success or otherwise. Here in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, a European mom with a half-Thai child was decidedly uncommon when my daughter was born. With no family or mom friends to ask for advice or support, I have always just googled EVERYthing and, if that didn't work, I have prayed and simply followed my instincts. I "wore" my baby and raised my little one under my desk long before it was fashionable, mostly cos I had to. And my daughter was a little one in the pre-social media era. If, indeed, anyone remembers that time.
Being away from a standard, accepted "mom culture" and ideas of what that might mean, I have always asked myself lots of deep questions about "how to do it". Should I raise her in a religion that I myself don't subscribe to, or should I let her work it out as she grows? Should I insist she learn my mother tongue (Dutch) or let her choose her own linguistic path? (she's happily on language #3 at the moment - Korean - no Dutch on her radar yet) Should I send her to an international school that prepares her for a western world that won't exist by the time she gets there and a society that I, myself, have deselected from? How to skill her up for a world that is changing so fast that I can barely keep up?
I took the decision long ago to simply be as transparent as possible, and to listen to her. To let HER choose the bits of my life that interested her, and to not push things on her (like the violin or piano lessons) that are my idea of what might benefit her. So it has been with some interest that I have watched her absorb my cryptocurrency learning curve. Cos I am a total newbie. She came along to an introductory crypto training session with me and bravely sat through most of it before (endearingly) falling asleep with her head in my lap. She has watched me start on steemit and has been keenly observing my experience of learning Discord and getting GINAbot talking to me. If nothing else, my daughter will be clear that life-long learning is perfectly NORMAL. Expected, even.
So when she asked me casually some months ago if she could travel to Korea along with friends in April 2019, I agreed in principle. After I conquered a few habitual misgivings, cos she will still only be 14 years old then. So provided some precautions and steps are put in place as a safety net, and provided she saves and pays for the flights herself, it is game on.
After making it very clear that normal household chores and routine helping in our business will NEVER be paid events, and clarifying that our 14 year old pickup truck might fall apart if it is washed too often :) my daughter went away to think. And she hatched a plan, with a little input from her mom. In the last days she has set herself up on steemit. @nabithecat
She's going to blog her experience of learning crypto through the eyes of our cat, who has conveniently been given his new 'stage name', Nabi the Crypto Cat. You can read her first introductory post here: @nabithecat/nabi-the-crypto-cat
Some of her posts will be bilingual, so she can practice her written Korean language skills and engage her many young bilingual Korean friends (Korea, of course, having the highest uptake of steem anywhere in the world). She wants to WORK the high-traction tags of kr, crypto and cat, cos my girl has done her homework. She's going to work on her cat stories and cute little cat memes, to show you how she's growing and to show us how the kids who are our future want to use this new technology - to develop an income stream to enable the global lifestyle of their choice.
And suddenly, I am having to learn faster, to search out blogs and sites that might interest her sharp young mind, whilst at the same time having endless little chats about malware, phishing, and the irrevocability of playing in the crypto-space on the blockchain. Feeling a bit like that new mama again who actually had to google "cloth nappy folds" way back when. And haha, yes, I really did have to do that.
If you believe women need a stronger voice in the cryptocurrency world, please support her. Cos we haven't even begun to THINK about how to teach this stuff to our kids or our young people. My online searches for "blockchain crypto education teenagers" haven't yielded much. And her private, excellent but under-resourced bilingual school here in Chiang Mai is still happily teaching PowerPoint and word processing.
It's my job, as her mama, to equip her for the global world she will have to live in. Cryptocurrency and the blockchain are here to stay, and she needs to be competent and comfortable in that world. So I need to get myself better skilled, and model for her what is possible. If you are reading this and have resources to share, please link them in the comments below. Please be GENEROUS in not just your upvotes of her work, but your advice, links, comments and ideas to help her. Cos it does take a village to raise a child, and in our case, that village is mostly online. And her newbie-steeming mom is sometimes way behind the curve and juggling. Mostly, if you are a teamgirlpowa member-supporter, please give us BOTH your support as we work this out together.
Loving this steem community and the generosity of spirit I have found. Deeply grateful for @kenistyles and @iamjamie for being wayshowers, bridge-builders and eternally patient and supportive. Feeling connected and thankful for all the other solo mamas doing their best out there.