Pre18: To be a girl…

Ah, blogland is now modifying the tag for the pre-18 crowd. Here, is a version for girls, and I am “it” courtesy of a tag from Mona…There are some things that will be unique to the female experience, and trying to raise your kid gender-less is an exercise in futility. I don’t even know why anyone would try such a thing, coz frankly there are certain things that just need to be a ladies-only kind of deal. Makes us feel special, if you will 😛 So, here are some things that every girl should do before she turns 18.

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But, before I begin, here are the rules:

1. Post these rules before presenting your list.
2. List 6 actions or achievements you think every person should accomplish before turning 18.
3. There are no conditions on what can be included on the list.
4. At the end of your blog, choose 6 people to get tagged and list their names.
5. People who are tagged write their own blog entry with their 6 suggestions.
6. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged.

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1. Learn a craft of some sort. Learn how to sew, how to knit, how to quilt, needlepoint, tapestry, weave wool…whatever. Just learn how to do something useful and productive with your own two hands. It will be a timeless hobby that will give you a touch of old-school uniqueness, and will help you value the creative things you see that sell for exorbitant prices, and the people who pour hours and hours of painstaking effort into such items.
2. Play in a very physical way. Climb trees, ride a bike, work out with your mom to her Pilates DVD (in my day, it was all about Aerobics videos by Jane Fonda!), become best friends with a jump rope, and beg your parents to get you a trampoline. Being active when you are young will help you tons when you are too busy to exercise in college, and will help you feel guilty enough to get back into shape when you are feeling a little chubby. 🙂
3. Get a pet. It can be fish in an aquarium if you don’t have the space at home for cats. Or it could be turtles, birds, whatever. Or maybe you can keep it at a nearby relative’s home if it’s close enough. But in any case, having a pet to care for and play with is a great way to get in touch with Allah’s creation that will be appreciative of your efforts to care for it.
4. It’s totally ok to be a tomboy. But balance it out by being all matching/girly-girly once in a while. And have one friend before you are 12 who is a boy that you can pick on relentlessly and another friend who is a dude that you can play in the sandpit with. This experience early in life will help you later in life, because your man is going to be a curious blend of nice jerk, and you are going to have to be able to deal with both sides of him! (I think. 😆 ) After 12, leave the guys alone because they will be useless to you, until the day you marry.
5. Do not wear makeup before 21. Even after that, exercise restraint. If your skin is good, makeup will ruin it. If it’s bad, makeup is gonna make it worse. But, it’s ok to wear lipstick/lipgloss and kohl eyeliner. Just make sure your lipstick is halaal and free from animal/insect by-products, because licking off beef fat or insect colorings (or worse) from your lips would be gross.
6. Focus on your future. Learn a skill, go to school, get your degree. Marriage and love and all that stuff that Cosmopolitan makes to look so glamorous will come later, and it will consume your entire life. Enjoy the peace of singlehood while you still can, and instead of “falling in love,” make duaa that you get the best possible naseeb.

And now I get to tag people…hmmmmm, who shall I tag? How about…Noora, A Muslim Wife (come out of hiding, woman!), Umm Adam, Aaminah, Ajla, and Tradicionalista. Looking forward to reading your wisdom!