I’m not getting political. I’m raising boys.

This may be an easier job than raising girls. So many contradictory messages out there in the ether for girls to absorb. I know because I have fought and wrestled with many of these: Wear this, don’t wear that. Submit to your husband, stand up for yourself. Sex is beautiful, good girls are chaste. Pursue a career, stay home with your kids. Be a leader, don’t be bossy. I could go on.

But I’ll probably discover it’s just as complicated out there for boys.

And so, I bring you the classic words of Mrs. Obama at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Which seem more important now, years later.

Because one day, when my boys are curious about who their mother was, and they stumble upon this blog in some forgotten corner of the Internet, I want them to find this post. And say, “Yes, of course our mother would post that.”

My deepest prayer is that my boys grow up to be men of integrity and empathy, with a love of and deep respect for women.

Here’s a link to read the full transcript.

Michelle Obama’s speech – excerpts

Here are my favorite quotes from it.

I will never forget that winter morning as I watched our girls, just seven and ten years old, pile into those black SUVs with all those big men with guns. And I saw their little faces pressed up against the window, and the only thing I could think was, “What have we done?”

See, because at that moment, I realized that our time in the White House would form the foundation for who they would become, and how well we managed this experience could truly make or break them.

That is what Barack and I think about every day as we try to guide and protect our girls through the challenges of this unusual life in the spotlight — how we urge them to ignore those who question their father’s citizenship or faith.

How we insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country. How we explain that when someone is cruel, or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level -– no, our motto is, when they go low, we go high.

With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us.

When I think about the kind of President that I want for my girls and all our children, that’s what I want.

I want someone with the proven strength to persevere. Someone who knows this job and takes it seriously. Someone who understands that the issues a President faces are not black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters.

Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military in your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have a thin skin or a tendency to lash out. You need to be steady, and measured, and well-informed.

I want a President with a record of public service, someone whose life’s work shows our children that we don’t chase fame and fortune for ourselves, we fight to give everyone a chance to succeed.

And we give back, even when we’re struggling ourselves, because we know that there is always someone worse off, and there but for the grace of God go I.

I want a President who will teach our children that everyone in this country matters –- a President who truly believes in the vision that our founders put forth all those years ago: That we are all created equal, each a beloved part of the great American story.

And when crisis hits, we don’t turn against each other -– no, we listen to each other.

And as my daughters prepare to set out into the world, I want a leader who is worthy of that truth, a leader who is worthy of my girls’ promise and all our kids’ promise, a leader who will be guided every day by the love and hope and impossibly big dreams that we all have for our children.

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Photo credit: Janeb13 from pixabay.com