(no subject)
A question for the women on LiveJournal:
I've said it a million times, I think, to my husband, to my dad, to my guy friends, whenever we talk about high school or middle school or adolescence, in general.
I tell them: "You have no idea how hard it is to be a teenage girl."
The hurtfulness, the low self-esteem, the loneliness. The high highs and the low lows that can happen in a matter of minutes. Well, you all know what I'm talking about. It's the reason many of us denouced girl friends until we finally met women we could love and trust and count on.
For me, my sister's teenage years were harder for me than my own. And the reason is that I love her so much, I couldn't bear to see her in pain. I'd much rather have taken it all myself.
So (and I know this is a long, long way off) I find myself already dreading Adriyanna's teen years.. moreso in fear of this pain she will feel than in any sort of fear of her rejection.. I know that's just a normal part of growing up.
Well, anyway, I am trying from the very beginning to instill a foundation in her so she will have faith in herself from day one. I tell her, every day, how beautiful she is, how smart she is, how she can do anything she sets her mind to, and how it's OK to fail because she can get right back up and try again. I don't think it's too early for this, because I think even if she can't understand my words yet, she is soaking it all in through my actions. I tell her how much I love her. I tell her she will fall in love and will have her heart broken and she will break hearts. I tell her it is OK to fall in love with men or women or both. I tell her she can be a mommy, or a career woman, or both. I tell her that there are people who will belittle her for being a woman, or being biracial, or for nothing at all, but that they are wrong. I tell her that life isn't easy, but it's amazing.
So what I am asking is this. What would you have said to yourself when you were a little girl? What would you have wanted yourself to know, at five years old or even younger, before middle school and high school and romance and mean girls and competition came into your life?
What would you have wanted to know to prepare yourself for adolescence?
I've said it a million times, I think, to my husband, to my dad, to my guy friends, whenever we talk about high school or middle school or adolescence, in general.
I tell them: "You have no idea how hard it is to be a teenage girl."
The hurtfulness, the low self-esteem, the loneliness. The high highs and the low lows that can happen in a matter of minutes. Well, you all know what I'm talking about. It's the reason many of us denouced girl friends until we finally met women we could love and trust and count on.
For me, my sister's teenage years were harder for me than my own. And the reason is that I love her so much, I couldn't bear to see her in pain. I'd much rather have taken it all myself.
So (and I know this is a long, long way off) I find myself already dreading Adriyanna's teen years.. moreso in fear of this pain she will feel than in any sort of fear of her rejection.. I know that's just a normal part of growing up.
Well, anyway, I am trying from the very beginning to instill a foundation in her so she will have faith in herself from day one. I tell her, every day, how beautiful she is, how smart she is, how she can do anything she sets her mind to, and how it's OK to fail because she can get right back up and try again. I don't think it's too early for this, because I think even if she can't understand my words yet, she is soaking it all in through my actions. I tell her how much I love her. I tell her she will fall in love and will have her heart broken and she will break hearts. I tell her it is OK to fall in love with men or women or both. I tell her she can be a mommy, or a career woman, or both. I tell her that there are people who will belittle her for being a woman, or being biracial, or for nothing at all, but that they are wrong. I tell her that life isn't easy, but it's amazing.
So what I am asking is this. What would you have said to yourself when you were a little girl? What would you have wanted yourself to know, at five years old or even younger, before middle school and high school and romance and mean girls and competition came into your life?
What would you have wanted to know to prepare yourself for adolescence?