My daughter is about to turn 7 which for us means she is getting older but she is still a little girl. As she has gotten older, I find it increasingly hard to deal with things that I was hoping where still years away but when she sees her fellow peers at school already wearing certain clothes and even makeup, it is hard to tell her no. I want her to stay a little girl for as long as she is a little girl.
I have been noticing a trend lately of little girls wearing um, lets say inappropriate clothing, stuff I am shocked that any mother would let their kid come out of the house with. My daughter was all about this outfit a friend had on and to be honest I didn't think it was an appropriate outfit for a six year old girl but when girls have influences of their mothers and older sisters, it is hard to remember that they are only six years old.
This trend of girls at a young age wearing things that are not appropriate isn't anything new. We have been battling this same argument every few years when new things come out for the kids to wear. I am hearing girls my daughter's age wanting to wear bras because they are already being indoctrinated that is what you do, so here I am having a kid wonder why she can't too. I am the lucky one though because my kid likes to wear jeans and t-shirts most of the time. Putting her in a dress is almost torture for her.
I wish the Moms out there that stick their girls in these clothes realized the damage they are doing both to their kids but also to the peers at school. Someone who lets their daughter wear short shorts leaving little to the imagination, is not helping my parenting job. It also as a mother makes me question how much I even want my kid to be around them.
The other thing I notice is that these moms who let their young daughters dress the way they do, seem to also dress wrong to. I had a friend comment how she thinks that these moms are projecting themselves onto their daughters in letting them wear tight or revealing clothes. I figure if I dress right, she will as well.
A positive body image is so important for girls to have starting from the get go. We need to teach them that no matter what our shape or size is, that we love ourselves without having to be flashy. This is something I have struggled for years myself with and I see so many woman still to this day struggling with a positive body image.
We as moms are responsible for setting a good foundation for our girls and we when teach them from the get go to strut their stuff, we are setting them up for disaster. As they age, people especially men will not respect them for who they are but judge upon how they look. These are the same Moms who themselves dress inappropriate and well are treated as such by men and society.
So as a Mother, it is important for me to take a hard look and create a base where my daughter feels same and secure in who she is with out all the bells, whistles and tassels that seen to plague girls today. I want my daughter to be a little girl for as long as she can because this is the best time for her to do it. Than when she gets older, she can force her own kids to wear the big puffy holiday dresses!
Rebecca Benson is a League City stay at home mom who has lived here since 2003 when her husband took a job on the International Space Station program. She followed soon after working on the same program for nearly six years when she started staying home with the kids. Rebecca loves to craft, scrapbook, sew, and embrace motherhood. Rebecca has a blog called Mommiedom ((http://queenmommiedom.blogspot.com/) where she talks about all the things in her life not just those “confessions”.
