Caddie Woodlawn

Here's a note I saved a while ago in Google docs. I read Caddie Woodlawn about 3 months ago. It was after a two year period of reading and re-reading, over and over, the Little House book series. I thought I'd give another pioneer girl a go. And Caddie did not disappoint. Full disclosure - I still re-read the Little House series. Or well, listen. I like the audio series because it's read by Cherry Jones and she does a phenomenal job. At this point her voice is grown-up Laura to me and that is just that. Anyway, here's a note I made about Caddie Woodlawn:

I just finished reading "Caddie Woodlawn," about a tom-boy pioneer girl that I understand is based on a real person - the author's grandmother. At any rate, her father makes this beautiful speech to her in Chapter 21, after she's been in trouble for playing tricks on her cousin Annabelle with her brothers, Tom and Warren. Tom and Warren have not been punished as harshly by their mother as Caddie has because she does not expect as much of them (though we do find out later that they were given a "thrashing" by their father).  So her father comes to her and makes this speech and I love it so much:

"Perhaps Mother was a little hasty today, Caddie," he said. "She really loves you very much, and, you see, she expects more of you than she would of someone she didn't care about. It's a strange thing, but some-how we expect more of girls than of boys. It is the sisters and wives and mothers, you know, Caddie, who keep the world sweet and beautiful. What a rough world it would be if there were only men and boys in it, doing things in their rough way! A woman's task is to to teach them gentleness and courtesy and love and kindness. It's a big task, too, Caddie - harder than cutting trees or building mills or damming rivers. It takes nerve and courage and patience, but good women have those things. They have them just as much as the men who build bridges and carve roads through the wilderness. A woman's work is something fine and noble to grow up to, and it is just as important as a man's. But no man could ever do it so well. I don't want you to be the silly, affected person with fine clothes and manners whom some folks call a lady. No, that is not what I want for you, my little girl. I want you to be a woman with a wise and understanding heart, healthy in body and honest in mind. Do you think you would like to be growing up into that woman now? How about it, Caddie, have we run with the colts long enough?

I would love to make this speech to my own girls one day. They are both tomboys but I expect the day will come when they need to hear this too. ❤ 

Source for this quote: https://books-library.online/files/books-library.online-01140722Ds2D1.pdf