My 5-year-old doesn't think she can become a doctor because she's a girl. This was a major parenting wake-up call.

The author said she was taken aback when her 5-year-old daughter stated that she couldn't be a doctor because she is a girl.

Courtesy of Alexandra Meyer.

Waiting staff hurried around me as I sat in a restaurant with my husband, 5-year-old daughter, 3-year-old son, and our friends. They had two boys, also 5 and three3 and we were on a long weekend away together, at the coast. We were sitting down for a delicious breakfast, where my daughter had typically ordered a bacon sandwich, while the boys had all ordered pain au chocolat, when the topic of careers came up."I'm going to be a police officer when I grow up," said my friend's son before he turned to Minna. "I can't be a doctor because I'm a girl," Minna replied.I was appalled and so taken aback that I couldn't believe what I'd heard. My brave, strong, fiercely independent daughter thought she couldn't be something simply because of who she was.I'd naively hoped that sexism had been somewhat stamped out in this new generation, but now I was quickly realizing it hadn't been, and I was learning just how early its impacts could start.I've always encouraged my daughterWhile I've fought hard since her birth to encourage my daughter to believe in herself, clearly, I haven't done a good enough job.My husband and friends were equally saddened by what they heard. We all rushed to reassure her, telling her she could be whatever she wanted to be and that women are just as capable as men.