Ten Skills Every Woman Should Have

In the interest of fairness, in relation to my previous post about "Ten Skills Every Man Should Have," here's my list of things every woman should be able to do, in my own humble opinion. No, I can't do many of these but as we all know, "do as I say, not as I do" is one of the many talents of both men and women. Here we go: 1) Change a tire - So many reasons for not learning this, not the least of which is the existence of AAA, but I know I should. It's just that it's so...yucky and dirty. 2) Be able to say NO - This is difficult for many women. I could go into all the psychobabble about women wanting to please others, low self-esteem, being care-givers, etc., but the bottom line is that we don't say no enough and it gets us into trouble and makes us feel badly about ourselves when we realize we're human and fall short. 3) Handle her own money - This is a bugaboo I'm still learning. A lot of us hate handling money but it's an unfortunate necessity. Oprah says she still signs every check herself. Jeez, if I had her bank account so would I! 4) Hook up a computer - C'mon, it's not that hard! I know it's easier to defer to a man but we can match colors and plugs as well as they can. 5) Negotiate - for a car, a raise, equitable treatment...the list goes on and on. We deserve it and you know it. 6) Cook - I mentioned this in the other post. Ev-er-y bo-deh should be able to fix a simple, nutritious meal from scratch. It's just a confidence thing. 7) Put together a great outfit - This one may seem sexist but a lot of times women ignore the fact that people (not judge) but gauge a book by the cover. Take the time to fix your hair and wear flattering, current clothes. As hard as it is to admit, people treat you differently depending on how you appear. 8) Be able to joke with men - Even though sometimes it seems that way, men are not another species. Some women are afraid to let their guard down around men and that's a shame because so many men (not all) aren't confined by the societal walls that women feel the need to put up. In many ways, men are a lot more fun than women (with none of the cattiness) if you give them a chance. 9) Know what direction you're facing - Ah...I'm guilty of not knowing this. My evolutionary chromosome for direction must be missing because I'm in awe of people who sniff the air and say, "The mall is north of here." HOW do you know that?? Usually, I'm wandering in circles looking for moss on trees or whatever that saying is. Don't tell me to "head south" because that's like Navajo Windtalking to me. You're better off just saying to me, "Turn left at the Whataburger." And, 10) Take our own advice - As women, we're known for being good listeners, world-class at verbalizing our emotions, having concrete shoulders for our friends to lean on, but terrible at listening to our own better judgment. How many times have we said, "I knew it was wrong but I did it anyway"? Ack. Finally, notice there is nothing here on motherhood? That's because I believe, as a whole, we're pretty damn good at it. Sure, there's room for improvement everywhere but nature has imprinted us with fairly clear, sometimes achingly loud, instincts and we tend to go that way. If you trust nothing else in life, you can predict that, with few exceptions, Moms will protect their young. Thank goodness. Now if only I can figure out a way to remember where I parked my car at Walmart.