Raising Girls

My daughter has learned
how to place her tiny hand
over her mouth
to cover her smile.

She does not cover her mouth
when she coughs or sneezes-
yet, somehow,
she’s learned to hide her smile.

She is not even two yet.
She strings together two words sentences
and shows us more personality
with the passage of every day.

I know that this is the first of many ways
I will see her reflect society
rather than herself.
I expected this to happen.

What breaks me
is knowing it happened so early
and the first thing she learned to hide
was happiness.