Listen Up! A Preview of Coming Attractions.

This week, a listening theme is developing in my posts.  It just happened randomly, but I'm going to go with it!

Yesterday, we discussed the importance of listening to our words and tones so that we can send the right messages to our kids.  Today, we talked about how listening to our kids is so important too. Tomorrow, we'll delve into a different kind of listening.

Hey Maggie: You Don't Have to Be Barbie!

Good morning, folks.  Grab some coffee – it’s rant time again.

The last time we had a “book review” sort of post, we looked at the book Go the [Bleep] to Sleep by Adam Mansbach. The post put forth two competing views on the fairly controversial book (I saved my own for the comments), and the lively discussion that ensued was quite interesting.

This time, however, I’m not going to let the discussion begin without telling you exactly where I stand:  I am appalled by the concept of this book.

One Conversation at a Time

There will be a regular post today, but first, I just had to share another article with you.  Many of my Facebook friends have shared it, and it's a really important read if you have a little girl.

I admit it's hard not to compliment Anna on her looks because I think she's gorgeous. And of course it's fine to do that now and then.  But, as this writer points out, it's much more important to let our daughters know we are proud of them for their intelligence and to encourage them to value that over appearance.  It's hard, given all of the media messages they face, but Lisa Bloom's point is a good one - maybe we can change the way our little girls feel about themselves, one conversation at a time.

Huffington Post - Lisa Bloom