Raising a Daughter

After reading this article, I have a greater anxiety of our culture and its effect on little girls.

My heart's desire is to raise a little girl who is secure, confident, smart, and a follower of Christ. But how do I accomplish that when I have my own issues with being a girl? How do you raise a daughter to make better choices than you did? Hopefully, with God's strength and guidance, Brent and I will do exactly that.

Here are a few ideas I gleaned from this - and other - articles on the topic:

More daughter of a King, less Princess

A lot of people don't see any harm in the princess culture. I think it's a personal decision, and you have to do what works for your family. The whole princess phenomenon does not work for us. There is a difference in teaching your daughter that her Father in Heaven is the King and buying her all the princess stuff and dressing/treating her like a princess. The latter is not for me.

Pitch the Pink

Not to say she won't wear pink. I think pink is adorable in moderation. But as she gets older, I want her to experience all the colors. The reason I love the "mismatched" look so much is that it incorporates every color - and each is beautiful and fun! When I worked in the preschool, all the kids always said, "Pink is for girls. Blue is for boys." Every day. I promise.

Why?

I love blue. My eyes are blue. I feel beautiful in blue. Blue is not just for boys.

Play up the Positives

We have a say in interests she develops. No, we can't force her to like certain things, but we can try to show her things that are good and hope she enjoys them. Brent and I talked about things like sports, art, music, Veggie Tales, Little House on the Prairie, kid's devotional Bibles/stories, and American Girls (sans the doll market - just the books). Those are things that if she DOES like them -- GREAT! We can let her run wild with that. If not, we keep looking.

Watching your Words

Little girls listen very early. I have to be especially careful about the things I say about myself. We all have those fat days, bad hair days, no cute clothes days, etc. But I want to try extremely hard to never let my daughter hear me talk about myself or my body in a way that makes her think I don't love how God made me. Even though I will probably continue to feel those things, I want to be careful about how it is presented to her and at what age. There's a time to start talking about those insecurities (like when she gets called a name at school).

A Day with Daddy

I have often told Brent that I think he will be the most influential person in our daughter's life. I know I will have a special bond with my daughter, but there is nothing like the relationship between a father and his daughter. It's where she first learns her value, her worth, her beauty. He teaches her how she should be treated, how she should be loved, why she should be loved. He gives her the first glance into all her future relationships. I will pray for their relationship every day.

Keep Praying!

When Brent and I talk to anyone about this, we always get the same response: "just wait until you have the kid" implying that we'll never be able to hinder these things or have this kind of impression. I choose to believe that with prayer and guidance, we will be able to accomplish exactly what God desires for our family.