Welcoming Daughter Number 3!

When my wife and I had planned only one kid. This was mostly because of financial reasons. We both were working and hopping from one home to another for a couple of years. We even moved half way around the world to seek a brighter future but decided to be closer to my family because I had more relatives willing to help.

After having our first girl it did not take too long to have a second. Our main reason for having two kids was the fear of having a lonely child when both parents are gone. Both my wife and I had siblings when we grew up so it was fitting we gave the same to our children.

Two girls and half a decade later my wife is a stay at home mom and taking really good care of the kids. While I am mostly at work, but when home I truly enjoy their company. It is always exciting and fun to play with them. I have yet to do makeup or paint finger nails, but in time I know I will be ganged up and bullied by my girl's charm to pick up fashion.

My wife and I love the girls and felt a third child was ideal for us. About 6 months ago we found out it was going to be a girl the first thing that pop into my head was the toilet sits in the house will forever have to be place down. I grew up with more males than females so rarely use to putting that sit cover down :p

I spoiled my two girls pretty much on everything so the third will likely match their sisters in pampering and love. As like any parent we only want the best for our kids. That includes gender equality. Now that I have three girls around me I fear for them when they roam the real world and have negative encounters because they are girls. I am disappointed in a lot of stories I am reading regarding sexual harassment on women. From movies stars to government officials there seems to be a wide spread pandemic of mistreating women.

Paraphrasing Warren Buffet, "I am really lucky in my life to be where I am. Born into the richest country in the world and am male." One of the richest man on the planet believes being male is an advantage in society is an example of why gender equality is so rampant. Although in later years Mr. Buffet did admit that there is a lot of potential to be tapped in economic growth if women were treated equally as men in corporate world.

I hope my kids will have a better playing field when they grew into adults. Like my dad keep emphasizing to my siblings and me, "grow up and be either a doctor, pilot, lawyer, or professor." I will motivate my girls to feel the same way. Although I am not any of what my father mentioned I still get to where a suit and tie everyday to work :p

As I work in a mostly male dominant field, engineering, I have personally have greater admiration for my female coworkers. Not to say they are admired because they are female, but they had the courage to stick through the gender imbalance and still roll with the punches. Math and science is difficult enough, but to be able to compete and succeed among their male peers is a thumbs up in my books. I hope more women will get into STEM programs. As the old saying goes, "two heads are better than one." Boys and girls should have equal opportunities to learn and advance in whatever they do.

As I know I am self-centered and somewhat arrogant I have never thought about the gender equality until I had my girls. I am rooting for all those women and men who are standing up & speaking out against gender inequality women.

Thanks for reading my rants.