What drew me in was the similarities to our current lifestyle. No not in the hoity toity Southern way, but in that we depend so much on maids to look after our kids and our households. And that whether we like it or not we still do see some families ill-treating their maids as though they weren't human.
This line was taken from the scene where Aibileen would tell Baby Girl (aka the little girl she looks after) to repeat this line every time she feels hurt or feels sad. It was about empowering the little girl to always think good things about herself just by repeating these few words.
Words are so powerful, so potent and has such great impact on us. How many of us say this to our own kids?
My daughter had a couple of run ins with some school bullies in the past. Ever since she was in Primary 3, she had to deal with fair weather friends who liked her one day ("You're my BFF!") and ignores her on another. The worst was one occasion when she was told to her face "I hate you" during recess time, by not one girl but by the whole 'gang'. She came home in tears of course, sometimes not willing to tell my husband and I what had happened in school. Slowly we managed to get her to share with us what had happened in school and I remember telling her to always say to herself "I am special. I am unique." whenever she was in that situation.
And when she felt disappointed or sad whenever she couldn't get her grades up, especially in MT, I'd tell her to tell herself "I Can Do It" and every improvement, no matter how small, is celebrated with high-fives, hugs and kisses. I strongly believe in empowering children. They have so much potential in them and all they need is a good support system. As a parent, I can only hope to think that what I've done with my girl has made her a much more confident person. Not a person who is only focused on getting good grades but someone who will be able to survive whatever life throws at her.
Watching the movie and listening to Aibileen saying something similar to her Baby Girl, just hit home for me. It brought back those memories of me and my baby girl.
I had also recalled that in my past two workshops, I have had the most wonderful opportunity to work with kids who had mild autism, dyslexia and ADHD. I could see the hesitation in their parents eyes when the kids were dropped off at the workshop, worrying about whether their kids would fit in with the others, ie the 'normal' ones. I'm not going to say that it was easy, because it wasn't, especially since I'm not a trained counsellor to deal with such disorders. But I did what I thought was best... which was absolutely nothing.
It was game on as usual. I was the only one in the room that knew which child had what. None of my facilitators knew about these kids as they weren't privy to the registration details and they didn't care to ask either. And they had almost the same feedback during our debrief sessions, ie all the kids behaved, well... like kids. We had the naughty ones, the ones that talked back, the bossy ones, the quiet ones... you get the picture. And we had to work with them the best that we could so that they could get the best out of each and every challenge posed to them.
Some were tougher than others to help integrate into their teams, some took to leadership rather readily but they all had their moments of brilliance. From contributing very creative and innovative ideas to figuring out how to work circuits in a flash, they all brought a bit of themselves to the table and shared it openly with the others.
It warms my heart seeing the moment the light switches on in their eyes when the kids engage in the activities. Especially when they succeed in the challenges after going through many tests and modifications. They are all unique and all special, important in their own way. And this movie is a timely reminder not to keep these thoughts to myself but to tell them that.
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