My girls have been playing "Little Women" lately and, interestingly enough, I was strangely and confusedly thrilled to discover that not a single one of my girls chose to be Jo!
Why was I thrilled? Well, I wasn't exactly sure....I realize that Josephine March is the heroine in the book and all, and most women I've read about ADORE Jo and thoroughly identify with her. When I read the book as a young girl I certainly identified with Jo--but she wasn't the one whom I most wanted to emulate. The one sister I truly longed to be the most like was sweet, mild, sacrificing, unselfish Beth. I failed miserably, but she was my heroine of the March sisters.
So do I really want my daughters wishing that they were born a boy instead of a girl...and carryin' on in a raucous, unlady-like fashion...and lamenting their fate and destiny as a woman...like Jo did? Um, not really.
I never mentioned these sentiments of mine and just assumed that one of my girls would certainly want to be Jo...and none of these thoughts even occurred to me until, interestingly enough, none of my girls chose to play Jo!
So this is the notorious 'Thinking Rock' where they have set up their house, removed thick layers of moss, fixed up bedrooms, and....
this is the corral that their brother built for all of their horses...
Little Women MUST have their little ponies nearby, ya know!