Teaching Daughters...

This is Emily the Teddybear...

Being the Mother of a daughter I am ever mindful of what I am teaching her about life. I want to raise a balanced daughter who is able to make good decisions for herself. It can be a tough world out there for girls with so many pressures put on them by society from how to look to how to behave. Let's not even think about the sexuality side of life yet. Let me cling desperately to my visions of my little girl with her teddy Emily...

Food is an area I am ever conscious of. Our family motto is to eat a healthy diet and that it is okay to have treats but not until after the healthy food is eaten and certainly not everyday. We also practice 'mindfulness' This is something Dr George Blair-West talks about in his book 'Weight Loss for Food Lovers'. It discusses childhood obesity and instilling good habits from when kids are young like eating with the TV off and eating together as a family. One of his big points is to enjoy what is being eaten and to eat slowly. It is quite a good read if you are interested. Obesity is getting to be a very 'big' health issue. I have heard Dr Balir -West speak at a conference and he made so much sense!!!

I read about a book called The Butterfly Effect- a positive new approach to raising happy, confident teen girls by Dannielle Miller and ran out to buy it. Teenage girls are vulnerable and with so many pressures today, I don't think it hurts me to be more aware of them and how I can assist my daughter to view life. One thing mentioned in the book is to surround them with wonderful role models and at the moment, I am happy to say, she has some lovely friends with equally lovely Mother. So far so good.

I make this for Miss T's lunch nearly everyday. Nicely balanced with fruit and yoghurt. It is a ham and salad roll up with cabbage, carrot, celery, a sprinkling of cheese, hummus and fresh bean sprouts.  She l-o-v-e-s it! Master T has one too but at this stage prefers salami in it. Got to start somewhere... I try to make food a non issue and focus on health and exercise rather than depriving foods. 

For Miss T

I have heard savage stories about the 'teen' years and was certainly bracing myself for the roller coaster ride to come. One blogger however commented that the teen years were her favourite and with 2 girls, I assume she has had l-o-t-s of experience! It has been lovely conversing with her and getting some 'tips'! Look I know one cannot really prepare but it does make me think about what type of role model I am. What does my daughter see when she looks at me? What messages am I giving her that I am not even aware of? So, this road to self discovery continues my friends.....

 Ciao for now...