![]() ![]() Paul is the author of the bestselling new book The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure, which is part high-energy how-to guide, part hilarious memoir, and part interactive adventure journal designed to help girls of all ages build confidence, pluck, and bravery by venturing outside. But too much can be limiting and, especially for girls, potentially detrimental to their development.Ī few days earlier I’d spoken by phone with Caroline Paul, whose op-ed in the New York Times Sunday Review last month, “ Why Do We Teach Girls That It’s Cute to be Scared?” went viral. As I like to joke to my husband, mothers’ worry is what keeps the human race alive. Still there were moments when I had to bite my tongue and resist the urge to scream Careful! or Slow Down!, half expecting to come around a corner and find her endo-ed in the dirt. The desire to protect our children from harm is innate and reflexive and, at times, all-consuming. If there’s any sweeter sound than a little girl oohing and ahhing as she banks through turns and up and over dusty berms, I don’t know what it is. I rode behind Pippa, watching her handle her bike with confidence, control, and joy. Then she pushed off, shrieking with glee as she rolled over the first loamy whoop-de-woo. Before we started, I coached her on the basics of downhill mountain biking: keep your weight back, your pedals level, and feather the brakes. We’d heard it was smooth and gentle enough for kids and she was desperate to try it, so even though it was her first day on a fat bike, and the sign at the top read “Technical Trail: Advanced Riders Only,” I said yes. The other day my seven-year-old daughter, Pippa, and I rode the flow trail at our local mountain bike park.
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