Being a Mom

5 Practical Strategies for Encouraging Your Daughter to Enjoy Being a Kid–and Not Rush Growing Up

920
14 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, media messages, Parenting

Love this site.  Adore this article.  Great, practical strategies for parents grappling with the question of “what is age-appropriate for my daughter?”

http://www.daughters.com/article/?id=344&page=1

I especially love the idea of letting our daughters know that it’s okay to enjoy getting to be young–that growing up quickly doesn’t (more…)

2 Essential Traits of Great Girl Friends

0
14 years
by in angry smile, assertiveness, Being a Mom, Parenting

When I was really young, my best friends were all girls. We played Barbies, rode bikes, roller skated, and did all of the things that little girls do, without having to give much thought to making our friendship work. By later elementary and middle school, my girl friendships got a bit more complicated. My “besties” were still girls, but the whole lot of us seemed doomed to endless fights and constant bickering. Social exclusion and relational aggression were not properly identified and labeled for us as “girl bullying” like they are today, so the constant rifts in our relationships were a source of great confusion, as well as sadness and (more…)

“Today I Said I’m Not Doing Anything…”

522
14 years
by in Being a Mom, Parenting

Stay at Home Moms

by Jennifer Johnson on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 1:09am

A  man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in  their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers  strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife’s car was open,  as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.  Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been  knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the  front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and the (more…)

The Healthy Media for Youth Act

1005
14 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, media messages, online, Parenting

According to Change.org:

  • More than half of girls (55 percent) admit they diet to lose weight
  • 42 percent of girls know someone their age who forced themselves to throw up after eating
  • 37 percent know someone who has been diagnosed with an eating disorder
  • 31 percent admit to starving themselves or refusing to eat as a strategy to lose weight.

According to the Girls Inc, even young girls, 3rd through 5th grade, worry about their appearance (54 percent), and specifically their weight (37 percent).

The American Psychological Association’s Report on the Sexualization of Girls (2007) found that three of the most common (more…)

Confessions from a Child Development Expert

872
14 years
by in Being a Mom, Parenting

Check out this great, relieving, totally honest piece about parenting from Dr. Robyn Silverman.  Ahhhh, I feel so much better about my not-so-perfect parenting already…

 

http://www.drrobynsilverman.com/parenting-tips/confessions-from-a-child-development-expert-my-not-so-perfect-children/

 

 

My Baby Clothes Boutique has partnered with me to bring relevant articles to their community.  If you are shopping online for stylish baby clothing, including unique headbands, baby hats, or fun summer pettiskirts and tutus, please check them out.

Seeing Isn’t Believing: Helping Young Girls De-Bunk Media Myths

942
14 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, media messages, Parenting

http://youtu.be/iYhCn0jf46U

Check out this great video for sharing with daughters and talking about beauty pressures.  As adults, we know that seeing isn’t necessarily believing, but it’s amazing (read: sad) how much kids buy in to what they see in the media.

 

 

The Breathtaking Cruelty of Formspring: What Every Parent Should Know

864
14 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, cyberbullying, internet, kids, Parenting

Read below for bestselling author Rachel Simmons’ (Odd Girl Out, Odd Girl Speaks Out, The Curse of the Good Girl) perspective and very helpful suggestions for talking to young girls about the “breathtakingly cruel” website Formspring:

 

http://www.rachelsimmons.com/2010/03/what-every-parent-should-know-about-formspring-the-new-cyberscourge-for-teens/

Formspring: Enabling the Cruelest Form of Bullying with the Greatest of Ease.

483
14 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, internet, kids, media messages, online, Parenting

Having just read the post below, I am still speechless…which is fine because this Mama said it all so well:

http://www.rachelsimmons.com/2011/06/guest-blog-a-mothers-battle-to-get-her-daughter-off-formspring/

I adore her apt description: Formspring is the present-day version of the bathroom stall on steroids, enabling the cruelest form of bullying with the greatest of ease.

Are you aware of the website Formspring?  As the mother of 8 and 5-year old girls, I was not…yet…but am so glad to know about it early so that I can do a little early intervention and hopefully prevention.

You know, it’s crazy–I feel like me, and so many other parents and professionals out there, are putting their hearts and souls into helping girls cope with bullying–then a site like this comes along and makes money hand over first with no purpose or objective other than to wreck young girls.   Where is the conscience?

 

 

 

Beauty Pressure: Innoculating our Kids

214
14 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, kids, media messages, Parenting

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I&w=425&h=349]

The article I posted below reminded me of this film clip from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. I suggest this clip to parents and professionals in my Friendship & Other Weapons curriculum, as a way of teaching young girls about the impact of media messages–sort of an innoculation measure, with the idea that when girls are aware of the media’s intentions, they are better able to resist its negative influences.

I would love to hear your reactions to the video and feedback on how you talk with your kids about media messages and beauty pressure.

Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies

451
14 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, media messages, Parenting

I love this post about Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies, by Andrea Owen.  “I know I can’t shelter my daughter from seeing and sometimes believing that she needs to be prettier, thinner, firmer, sexier, smoother, younger-looking, etc. But, I can sure as hell tell her from my own mouth that her body is the most perfect thing created, just as it is. That it was meant for kicking ass…”

 

http://thefeministbreeder.com/guest-post-teaching-our-daughters-to-love-their-bodies/

 

This is a key lesson in the Friendship & Other Weapons curriculum as well; part of fortifying girls against the pressures of bullying has to do with teaching them to be proud of who they are and the bodies they live in, rather than becoming overwhelmed and swept away by media messages to the contrary.

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