We are Mia (aged 4 and four days) and Auntie Sarah (aged 28 and lots of days)
Mia:
Hello, I am Mia and I am four. When I grow up I want to be a doctor and help people. When I was little I thought boys were doctors but now girls can be doctors too. Boys and girls can be doctors and nurses.
Auntie Sarah:
I was making up a story with my niece and the doctor was a lady, she looked at me and laughed saying “no Auntie Sarah, only boys are doctors”. It struck me as strange because she hasn’t learnt that from my brother, his wife or two boys so where has she learnt it from? I thought about it and realised that we’re surrounded by it. I then knew immediately what my deed would be; to always remind her that no matter what, she should never let anything hold her back. She then decided that if she could be a doctor, then that’s what she would do when she grew up.
For her fourth birthday I bought her a doctor’s outfit. She loved it. She put it on and I told her to show me ‘how happy she was now that she can be a doctor and help people’ – this was how she looked…!