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[quote=Anonymous]A little backstory:

I am the only daughter of the only daughter of the only daughter of… etc. my great-grandmother was an extraordinary woman in her time (hardworking immigrant teacher who defied social norms etc), and she raised my grandmother to be an extraordinary woman as well. My grandmother lived an incredible and interesting life - going from being the daughter of a poor farmer in the south to a “society doyenne” of Washington who was in the political inner circle for decades.

At some point in her midlife her husband (either second or third) dubbed her and her mother “those Smith women” and would refer to their “extraordinary” personalities and abilities as being related to them being “Smith Women”. (Smith is not the real name, but the real name is my grandmother’s maiden name). The moniker has been passed down through my mom and me. I now have 2 daughters (breaking with tradition!) and my husband and my dad and others who know the history will still refer to us as those Smith Women whenever we do something “particularly” strong or impressive.

I’m not saying we are particularly impressive, but we are hardworking and tough and those are traits I’m hoping to instill in my daughters.

Somehow my girls who are now 10 & 12 got it into their heads that in order to be come a “Smith woman” one has to undergo a rite of passage or pass some sort of test. I think my mom or my husband (who likes to mess with people for fun) said something to that effect. For whatever reason they think it happens at age 13. My eldest turns 13 next week and this morning my mom called me to say she can’t think of whatever it is that my dd has to “go through” and she asked for my help.

So I am crowdsourcing for ideas. It shouldn’t be something painful (no blood oaths) or overly intricate. My mom isn’t local but will be visiting a few weeks after the bday so we could put it off until then, but I know my daughter is expecting “something”.

Any ideas? I realize this seems silly and we could just say that it was all a joke but I expect my eldest will want to “keep the mystery” and the joke from her younger sister for the next 2.5 years so my mom (and I) think it would be fun to do something.

Thanks for any thoughts -silly is fine (as long as it seems like something that could’ve happened in the 1930s when my grandmother turned 13…)[/quote]

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