I have been working hard behind the scenes on a project that is very close to my heart. I am very happy to announce a Summer Blog Series right here on One Tough Mother that begins next Wednesday, June 5th and runs each week through July 31st.
Allow me to share a little bit of history into the makings of this project, and tell you why it’s so important to me…and why it should be important to you:
The Background:
Three years ago, I was given the privilege of leading a group of young women in Sunday school. All of these young women were in 5th grade at the time. As their leader, I was blessed with an inside look at the life and times of 10-11-year old girls – what’s important to them, what they are insecure about, what stresses they have, what brings them joy, etc.
In the 9 months that I led these girls, I truly believe I learned more from them than they did from me. It also opened my eyes to the very real and very disheartening fact that our girls, now more than ever, are under attack. Not physically, necessarily, but emotionally – by the media, by their peers, and, sadly, even by their families. Their confidence is tested and pushed, and in a lot of cases, it gets lost completely without a strong support system.
Now, my own daughter is 11 years old. She just finished 5th grade and will be entering the great big world of middle school in the fall. As her mother, I feel this is the best time to arm her with the tools to stay a strong, confident, secure young woman who will hopefully be a role model to her friends, who will be a leader by example, and who will come out at the other end of her teenage years wiser and tougher than when she went in.
Parents, this is where you come in.
Beginning next Wednesday, June 5th, and following each Wednesday through the end of July, I will be sharing activities, challenges, and encouraging information here on the blog. I’ve put this series together based on several resources that I’ve used myself over the years, as well as some resources that I have recently stumbled upon that I have found to be phenomenal.
What You Can Expect:
I am, first and foremost, a Christian, so some of the information you will see over the next several weeks will be based in Scripture. I want you to help your daughter understand God’s idea of beauty, and His expectations for her as a woman, rather than focusing on the world’s view.
I am, secondly, a wife…who used to be a little girl. I’ll share stories and photographs from my past, and share with you how they molded me into the woman (and wife) I am today. I’ll also share with you specific women whom I admire, and will challenge you to seek out (and become) a true role model for your own daughter.
Finally, I am a mother. This is a series aimed at mothers and daughters, together. After all, your daughter will look to you when her heart gets broken, when her friends betray her, when words sting, when she feels “ugly” or “fat” or just “different”. This series is designed to be something you do together. You will encourage one another, share with one another, and love one another, and hopefully, you’ll be closer than ever by the end of the summer.
I guarantee you that your relationship with your daughter will be stronger by the end of the summer if you wholeheartedly participate in this series with her. She will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you love her, you understand her (no matter what phase of her life she is in), and that you will always be there for her.
And that, my friends, is where true self-confidence comes from.
ALL POSTS IN THIS SERIES
- Week 1: For the Moms
- Week 2: What Is Beauty, Really?
- Week 3: Sticks & Stones
- Week 4: Women Who Rock
- Week 5: Guest Blogger – The Hill Jean
- Week 6: Girl, You’ve Got Talent!
- Week 7: The Honest Truth
- Week 8: Support System
- Week 9: Random Acts of Kindness
22 Responses
This made me tear up as your words are so strong and sincere. Count me in! I love my babies and plan to take this challenge seriously in hopes of becoming even closer with them. (Proud mommy of 2 daughters, ages 10 & almost 4)
This is so sweet and so important, Kirsten. I have a few years before my daughter believes she is anything BUT the center of the universe, but building confidence and self esteem is critican and I will use any resource I can get!!
I love this idea! My daughter is turning 10 this summer, and I think this is really perfect timing for us to do something like this.
Katie, I am so happy you’ll be joining me on this journey! I can almost guarantee that your relationship with your daughters will be positively impacted, and I think a lot of moms might be surprised to see their own self-confidence grow in the process. 🙂
LOL! Yes, Adrianne, those toddler years are so sweet. It’s a shame that the reality of peer influence and media influence changes our daughter’s perspective of herself. That’s why I’m doing everything I can to arm my daughter with the tools she needs to walk through life as a confident woman, loving herself, and seeing herself the way God does. Thanks for stopping by today!
Tracie, 10 is PERFECT. 🙂 I hope you and your daughter will join me, and we’ll have a fun summer learning and growing together! I’m so excited to share this with you!
I would love to join in this. I have two daughters, 7 and 4. Thanks.
Fabulous! Happy to have you and your girls on board Carisa 🙂
Sounds good fo my three daughters ages 5, 7 and 10.
YAY! Great to have you and your girls joining us on this journey Angie!
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for, for my daughter and I 🙂
This is such an amazing idea, Kirsten! I have two daughters, one finishing 6th grade an one finishing 4th and I definitely agree that this is needed. Can’t wait to follow along with your series!
Awesome! So happy to have you along Patricia!
Thanks Kara! I love that you’ll be joining me 🙂
This is an awesome idea! I can’t wait to see what you have instore for us. My daughter will turn 9 this summer. We have a journal that we write back and forth in so this will be a lot of fun for us.
What a wonderful idea! My three daughters are all grown up now, but as a pastor’s wife, I see so many young girls that need this! Keep up the good work! And the picture collage is beautiful!
I love that you have a journal together! What a wonderful project that she’ll keep forever 🙂 So happy to have you joining me!
Thanks so much Alli! Glad you stopped by.
This looks interesting … I would like to be in the loop 🙂
My daughter is 7 and my niece (who I am very close to) is almost 12. I am looking forward to these next 9 weeks.
The journal is really neat. Sometimes she has things she needs to talk about but doesn’t want to talk about it so I got a journal for her to write it in. I fund the journal at Barnes & Noble. I has lots of stuff to fill in to tell each other about stuff and then it has lots of free writing pages.