Totally Normal

So why did the sight of Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Emhoff walking up the steps into the Capitol make my heart soar and my chest tighten? 

My two small daughters miraculously slept in, so I watched the beginning of the Inauguration coverage by myself, quietly with a cup of coffee. This was a very rare moment, since I’ve been home with my five and almost two-year-old full time for the last ten months. As the soon-to-be Vice President entered the Capitol, I wanted to wake up my girls (well, almost!) to explain to them what was about to happen. 

And then I thought, wait. This is normal. This will be completely and utterly the norm for them. They will have to be taught that there was a time before women could be one of the most powerful people in the world. Just as being a lawyer is normal to me, and I had to be taught that there was a time when women couldn’t (or wouldn’t) get hired as lawyers. Just as voting was normal to my mom, and she had to be taught that thousands of women had to fight, march, and go to jail for her right to vote.