Daughters articles from March 2005

Daughters archives from March 2005

Beth Hossfeld on girls' circle.(Girls' circles can benefit girls every age)
March 1, 2005... When family therapist Beth Hossfeld noticed that her eighth grade daughter's friends were struggling over body image, boy, and friendship issues, she had a bright idea. Why not start a group for the girls? She did, and soon after met up with...

Creating time together with her.(LET'S TALK)
March 1, 2005... It was the Disneyland of indoor pools, with a spiraling, licorice-red water slide, a giant floating frog climber, spray machines, a diving tank, a hot tub for parents, the works. My three younger daughters, ages 6, 8, and 11, charged into the...

Take her to "work" every day!(HER WORLD)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... On April 28, millions of us will likely "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work" to give our kids a hands-on look at their future work world. But what they learn from us--and from countless cultural messages about the value of all kinds of...

Editor's desk.(Editorial)
March 1, 2005... If I had just one word of advice to give parents of daughters, it's this: Talk! It's absolutely free; there isn't one right way to do it; and the rewards are boundless. Girls are starved for talk, says Girls' Circle cofounder Beth Hossfeld in...

Dinner table benefits.(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)(Meals together increase family connectedness)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... One easy way to build serf-esteem in girls? Gather for regular family meals, according to a study of nearly 5,000 middle- and high-schoolers published recently in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Meals together provide a fun...

Puzzling fun.(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)
March 1, 2005... Girls can sharpen skills in spatial logic and teamwork--alone or with a partner--with a puzzle-packed online game created by the girls' advocacy organization, Girls Inc. Try out TeamUp at: http://www.girlsinc.org/gc/page.php?id=6.2.

Change media messages!(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)(Turn Beauty Inside Out Leadership Conference)
March 1, 2005... If your idea of a beautiful, wonderful girl is NOT the one you see in the movies (think modern-day Cinderellas still walling for Prince Charming, or shopaholic ditzes), consider attending the Turn Beauty Inside Out Leadership Conference. Girls...

Stopping cyberbullying.(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Girls can be victims, victimizers, or passive bystanders in the rising incidence of electronic bullying, according to a trove of information and parent resources at www.cyberbully.org. Among many examples involving both boys and girls, girls...

Staying on track.(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)(Girls on Track: A Parent's Guide to Inspiring Our Daughters to Achieve a Lifetime of Self-Esteem and Respect )(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 1, 2005... Molly Barker remembers being trapped in the "Girl Box," where she knew she'd never be pretty enough, thin enough, or sexy enough to feel satisfied with herself. In her book, Girls on Track: A Parent's Guide to Inspiring Our Daughters to Achieve...

Preventing preteen pregnancy.(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... While the birth rate among 10 to 14-year-old young women is now the lowest since 1946, births still numbered nearly 137,000 in the latest tally by the Centers for Disease Control during 1990-2002. About one in seven sexually active girls 15 or...

A good body?(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)(Eve Ensler's The Good Body )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... One way to help your daughter feel more satisfied with how her body looks is to model that satisfaction yourself. Eve Ensler's The Good Body (Villard, 2004) offers thought-provoking stories of how she and other women grew to love their own...

Supporting her emerging sexuality.(RELATIONSHIPS)
March 1, 2005... "What do you think of homosexuality?" As parents, teachers, and advocates for girls, we need to be prepared for this question. As girls think about sexuality and relationships during their preteen and teen years, homosexuality may be an...

Staying in touch when you're away.(COMMUNICATION)
March 1, 2005... Back when your daughter was tiny, she made it clear that she needed you nearby at all times. As your girl grows older and more independent, there are days when it seems like your presence isn't required--or wanted--at all. But tween and...

Bedtime struggles.(WORKING IT OUT)
March 1, 2005... It's hard to fault our daughters for wanting to stay up late. After school and other responsibilities, there may be little time other than wee night hours to relax and have fun. Yet when a girl's underslept, both daughter and parents deal with...

Handling fears about her safety?(PARENTS' FORUM)
March 1, 2005... "As my daughter gets older and more independent, I find myself worrying more about her physical safety. I read so many horror stories in the newspaper about girls being raped, murdered, and abducted. Are my fears realistic?" L. G., St....

Creating everyday alone time.(Mother-daughter relations)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Finding time to regularly focus on one daughter can be easy with a little brainstorming. Even short periods of time that pop up during a day's normal schedule make for great bonding breaks. Chores and errands are one example. "I love my...

Passing her your real heritage.(DAD'S DESK)
March 1, 2005... When our twin girls were preschoolers, they were best friends with a girl down the alley. Krista had great parents, and a priceless little brother named Jeris. For the next year or so, I was filled with a sometimes painful longing to have a...

Helping her make history.(EDUCATION)
March 1, 2005... Women's History Month. It seems so impersonal, so not-much-to-do-with-us, doesn't it? The histories of our more famous foremothers, dusted off and honored briefly each March. But a decade ago, Women's History Month took on an intensely...

Her secret middle-school hero? Mom!(MOTHERING JOURNEY)
March 1, 2005... When I recently sat down to read essays by my sixth-grade students describing a person important to them, I was struck by an unexpected pattern. Overwhelmingly, the important person these 12-year-old gifts chose is their mother. As the...

My sneaky, successful talking trick.(CONSIDER THIS)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2005... Have you ever been so disturbed by an article in Daughters that you found yourself obsessing over how to talk about it with your kids even before you had finished reading? I'm a single dad with two teenaged daughters. When my girls were 13...

Dads and dollars.(HER DAD)
March 1, 2005... It started when my daughter was nine. Virtually every conversation I had with her centered around a request that I buy her something. I was stunned and angry. How could she treat me not as her loving dad, but as a walking ATM? Actually,...