Daughters articles from September 2005

Daughters archives from September 2005

Christiane Northrup on mothers and daughters.(Interview)
September 1, 2005... What does it take to make the crucial mom-daughter connection better, particularly during the challenges of a girl's tween and teen years? Begin by assuming that these years can be about bonding, not battles, advises Dr. Christiane Northrup, a...

Can she stand up for herself?(LET'S TALK)(assertiveness)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Dad: What's wrong, honey? You seem a lot quieter than normal. Sarah: Well... some boys at school were really, really mean to me. Dad: Did you try telling them to stop being mean? Or did you talk to a teacher? Sarah: I don't know...

Undercover science fun.(HER WORLD)(girls learning math and science)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Are girls and women "naturally" not as good at science and other male-dominated fields such as engineering and math? Earfier this year, Harvard University president Lawrence Summers drew fire for suggesting that male "intrinsic aptitude" played...

Editor's desk.
September 1, 2005... If you're the parent of an adolescent I girl, I bet you've gotten the same reactions I have from other adults: "Oh boy, you're in for some rough years," they say with a rueful grin. If the questioner is a woman, she'll often confide: "My morn...

Media multitasking.(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)(using multiple media)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... What's your daughter's full-time job? If she's a typical 8- to-18-year-old, it's consuming multiple media--meaning that all at once, she's likely to be watching TV, surfing the 'net or playing a video game, chatting on the cellphone, and...

Steroid surge.(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)
September 1, 2005... More girls as young as nine are using steroids to sculpt their body to "perfection," with seven percent of middle-school girls trying the drugs at least once, say several university and government studies. While some girls use steroids for...

Media as sex advisor?(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Girls who mature earlier report more interest in seeing sexual content in movies, television, and magazines as well as listening to sexual content in music, reports a University of North Carolina survey of nearly 500 middle-school girls. The...

Tanning Cancer.(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)
September 1, 2005... If your daughter's bemoaning her fading summer tan, think twice before allowing trips to the tanning parlor. The rate of cancerous skin melanomas among children and teens has doubled in the past two decades, and tanning businesses are to blame,...

Talking games.(News to Use reviews, research, and new ideas)(father-daughter conversation)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... As their daughters get older and more peer focused, some dads say that it's harder to find conversation topics. Hey Dad, Let's Talk (www. couragetochange.com) is a board game that poses questions to get the chat flowing, ranging from the sober...

Pitching in: what girls learn through housework.(LIFESKILLS)
September 1, 2005... Every time I remind my daughters to do their chores--sweeping the kitchen, taking out the garbage, emptying the dishwasher--I know Ill hear those predictable groans. When I nag them about picking up after themselves, they look surprised. They...

Pricey pastimes.(WORKING IT OUT)(recreational activities)
September 1, 2005... It's wonderful when a girl gets passionate about an interest such as dance, sports, or music. But in recent years, many kids' activities have turned into major investments of time and money. Now it's routine for teams and troupes to travel to...

Five assertiveness boosters.
September 1, 2005... DO AS I DO: Like McLellan, parents need to check their own behavior for signs of weakness in the face of adversity. When such situations arise, modify your behavior, and then make a point of showing your daughter how you've chosen to stick up...

Too young to date?(PARENTS' FORUM)
September 1, 2005... "My 14-year-old daughter wants to date, but I think she's too young. I'm OK with her being in a group social situation with boys, but not one-on-one dating yet. It's complicated because many of her friends can date. What's a good guideline for...

Help with Talking.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2005... I wanted to just thank you for such a great magazine. My mother never talked to me about anything (sex, drugs, etc.), probably because her morn didn't talk to her. I vowed to be a different kind of morn. But where to start? Your magazine has...

Ask the Expert.(outdoor recreation)
September 1, 2005... I just had to write and thank you for your short article in Daughters, "Green Relief' [about how outdoor activities can help symptoms of attention deficit disorder, in the Nov./Dec. 2004 issue]. Since my daughter became a preteen, she has shown...

Sorting out stepdaughter snarls.(PARENTING)
September 1, 2005... Stepmoms and stepdads may well be familiar with this refrain: "You're not my parent! You can't tell me what to do!" Conflicts are inevitable when new families form, and girls may be especially vulnerable. Studies show that girls often exhibit...

Avoid family feuding with family meetings.(COMMUNICATION)
September 1, 2005... As our girls go through the storms of their tween and teen years, struggles often erupt at home. With increasing independence, it's more likely that conflict flashpoints--over everything from chores to curfew--will spark a fight with a parent...

Is her self-esteem authentic?(FATHERING JOURNEY)
September 1, 2005... I'm a dad of an eight-year-old daughter, and I'm also the head of Redwood Day School, a coed school K-8 school in the San Francisco Bay area. As both a father and a school administrator, I think a lot and talk with our teachers about how to...

When someone close to her dies.(CONSIDER THIS)
September 1, 2005... When a student or teacher dies at your daughter's school, administrators immediately spring into action with grief counselors and other resources for students. But what happens when someone else close to your daughter dies suddenly and there is...

Listen, listen, and listen some more.(DAD'S DESK)
September 1, 2005... Girls tend to be a riddle to fathers. Like any mystery, the relationship with our daughter can be frightening, exciting, entertaining, baffling, enlightening, or leave us completely in the dark; sometimes all at once. If we want to unravel this...