Girly-Mom

School..

2012-02-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

After earning a bachelors degree in education and teaching in the schools for five years, It has been an interesting experience to now be a parent and watch my daughters go through school. My kids go to a great school and have had the opportunity to have several great teachers. My oldest daughter is in third grade. I taught third grade for four years, so I know eight year olds. I found it interesting how third grade is that age when girls begin to develop "Meanness". They start to label each other and to compete for attention. They can say awful things and hurt feelings. In fact, one of my favorite students, let's call her Kallie, was a doll. She was sweet, cute, not a hair out of place. She had great parents and did well in all subjects. At first I didn't believe it when girls would come to me and tell me that Kallie wouldn't let them be in her club. And that she had called them a "dog' or an "orphan". It took a few tears before I called Kallie in to have lunch with me one day. We started out talking about school and friends and then I asked her about her club. She explained that it was very "exclusive" and that only some of the girls could be in it. I nodded and listened as she explained all of the fun things they did. Then I asked her, "And how would you feel if someone had a club as fun as yours and wouldn't let you in?' She laughed and then considered my questions. "I guess I would feel kind of sad." I then shared with her some of the things the other girls were saying. By the end of our conversation Kallie had tears in her eyes. "I didn't realize that they felt like that." she said. Anyway, I guess this experience taught me that these kinds of things do happen even with kids that we think know better. How do we stop girls from becoming mean, calling names, and just being awful to each other? I think that moms have a lot to do with the way their daughters act. Even if we don't think they are watching, they are. They hear when we say something negative about that other crazy driver. They hear us say unkind things about other women to our friends. They see us act unfriendly toward other people. The longer I have lived, the more I've realized that almost everyone wants to have friends and to feel accepted. And as hard as it is to reach out to others, I am almost always glad when I do. At the grocery store today, I noticed the mom behind me had a posterboard just like the one I had in my basket. "100th day of school poster?' I asked. " She smiled and nodded and we had a five minute conversation. No, we're not best friends now, but if I see her around the school, I can probably say hi. What is it about women that makes us self conscious, catty, exclusive, and mean? Not sure, but I know that it starts in third grade.

Whay can't it be like preschool when we're all learning to be kind and share?

Girls and Fashion

2012-02-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

It's a little bit on the funny side that I even decided to tackle this topic, since I am the queen of sweatpants. However, having four daughters has taught me a little about fashion. My oldest at 8 is a lot like me. She likes to be comfortable. As the oldest, her wardrobe is much more limited than her sisters as she has no one to hand down to her. My second is quite the fashionista. She loves to put together crazy outfits and wear them. In fact his morning she left wearing a Christmas shirt--I know its' February but it simply wasn't worth it. She also insists on doing her own hair which isn't always the look I was going for,but really with her, I just have to let her do her thing. Arguing about it gets me no where. My third is a girl girl. She loves to wear dresses and fluffy skirts and always has to be beautiful. In fact, she probably wears dress up clothes more than anything else. The youngest will still let me dress her. But there are days when she wants to do it herself. And those days are a little rough. because she is two. The joys of girls.

The Girls Favorite Dinners

2012-02-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

It never ceases to amaze me that just when I think I have these girls figured out, there is drama. My older daughter likes mac and cheese. That is her favorite without question. My second daughter hates mac and cheese and demands chicken nuggets. My third daughter will eat most anything unless her older sisters say it is gross. The youngest will eat anything place in front of her. So.. most nights I have a plan in mind for dinner and know that at least one of them will be in tears when she finds out what it is. For example, last night I made chicken pot pie. It actually turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. My older daughter liked the chicken and sauce and veggies, but would not touch the crust. My second daughter flew upstairs to her room in tears because she was NOT going to eat that!! My third daughter ate it all. Number four ate the crust and demanded more. She did 't want much to do with the chicken or veggies. So, is chicken pot pie a keeper? I'm still not sure.. What I can tell you is that even though some nights they ravenousely eat up a recipe, it doesn't guarantee that they will eat it the next time I make it. The only sure things are breakfast for dinner, homemade pizza, and mom's rolls with any dish. They may not eat the rest of the meal, buit they will always eat the rolls.

What do you make for dinner for your picky princess?

Girly Mom Plan

2012-02-02T10:56:00.000-08:00

So, I may be the only one reading and contributing to this blog, but I have a plan in mind for how I will post.

Mondays: Girls and Food

Tuesday: Girls and Fashion

Wednesdays: Girls and Education

Thursdays: Girls and Parenting

Friday: Girls and Friendship

Potty Training Girls

2012-02-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

Oh, how potty training makes me cringe. When I was a first time mom, I thought potty training would be easy--I mean, really, teach the kid to go on the pot. How hard can that be? Well, it was a lot tougher than I thought. Many accidents and frustrated sighs later, my oldest was potty trained. How did I do it? bribery. Simple as that. I told her if she went on the potty, she could have a treat. And that worked with her. Enter little girl number two. Totally different personality. Followed her sister into the bathroom and taught herself. By now, I thought, wow, I am an expert at this potty training stuff. Little girl three comes into the picture, well...she doesn't want anything to do with going potty. So I wait...and wait..and wait. She's almost three and I'm starting to panic. I buy her Rapunzel underwear, I promise treats and she still will not have anything to do with that pink and purple musical potty. Eventually she decides she wants to try the underwear and masters the art of going pee on the potty, but will NOT poop. I start rewarding her everytime she will even sit on the potty and eventually she goes. Slowly at first, but eventually she gets the hang of it. Now I am on to number four. She seems interested in the potty at 2 years old and will pee if I put her on it. I am scared to death after my experience with little girl three. I don't want to push too hard because I feel like I did that with little to no success. Number three did it when SHE wanted to and was ready and NOT a moment before.

Any good suggestions for potty training this little princess?

Why Girly mom?

2010-08-07T21:28:00.001-07:00

Well...I grew up the second of five siblings. Two boys and three girls. I always thought my family would have both boys and girls in it when I grew up. Little did I know that my house would become a house full of girls. I grew up playing sports, singing, reading, and playing the piano. I had always considered myself one of those girls who wasn't "girly' I liked to dress in sweats and pull my hair up in a pony tail. No need for make up or a curling iron. I guess this blog is about my hourney learning to be a mother of four girls and having fun along the way. My girls range in ages 8, 6, 3, and 2 and I pretty much think that they are the cat's meow. They are extremely active and bright and they keep me busy shuttling them to practices and lessons. On an average day, I play Barbies, work on memorizing multiplication facts, scrub the toilet, do ten loads of laundry, and create meals I hope my children will eat. My poor outnumbered husband does a great job cupporting all of these girls and allows me to be at home with them so that I can take care of the daily moments. I am hoping this blog will be a forum for all moms of girls that we can share ideas and opinions about raising girls in today's world. Whether you have one or four or ten girls, I think that girls today have a tough world to grow up in and as moms our job is just as tough helping them to prepare to live in it. Maybe by helpion each other, we can make it a little easier...