A homage and a wish for women

An essential part of my remote parenting task is to talk and check on my children every day. With a highly opinionated daughter and a reticent son, distinct communication strategies and times apply.

- By DOROTHY DELGADO NOVICIO

Gone are the how-are-you-finemom monosyllabic discourses of their teenage days. For my daughter it's a fixed schedule. Over breakfast for me, after my Spelling Bee and Wordle brain exercise, and post-dinner for her as she skims through homework and extracurricular gigs.

One conversation was special: on the recent commemoration of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. My daughter was upbeat, albeit tired of the commute from Katipunan to Nuvali where her secondary school alma mater is.

She told of how "fulfilling" her day was. Her high school teacher, Ms. Patricia Javier, requested her to be a resource person for a gender sensitivity-related talk to a group of students between ages 15 and 16. In university she's part of an organization that advocates anti-sexual misconduct and violence and one of their responsibilities is to conduct first response training and gender sensitivity seminars. I am pleased at how my little girl has grown and how she uses her platform not only to speak but, more importantly, to listen to the shared experiences of students as they navigate a world where harassment, bullying or, worse, violence takes place beyond the physical realm.

"We had a very interactive discussion, mom," she said, gratified. I would love to hear how your talk was and ask you questions, I said. But first let me tell you that I had meaningfully commemorated this important day by reading "In the Time of the Butterflies." I finished reading it last week so I will tell you snippets of it but not the whole story (she sensed my subtle way of telling her to read the book, which I'm certain she'll do).