Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
-Marianne Williamson
Brave Like A Girl. Why?
My daughter and I were playing. She was the doctor; I was her patient. She pretended to give me a shot; I pretended to be nervous in anticipation of the pain. She gently put her hand on mine, whispering, “Don’t be scared. Be Brave… Like a Girl!”
My daughter’s experiences will be different from her two dads’ because of her gender. She will face challenges that we did not need to face. Her perspective of the world will be shaped in part by the fact that she is female (…)
8 Simple Ways to Help Your Daughter with School Stress
Guest post by Cloe Matheson
Many of us will look back on our time spent at school with fondness. But are we forgetting all the stress that school brought? What with academic work, extracurricular activities, and relationships to juggle, perhaps our salad days weren’t as carefree as we now remember.
Today’s education system is putting our girls under more pressure than ever before. With a few strategies and tips in mind, though, you can effectively help your daughter to manage her school stress.
1. Avoid overscheduling activities
With high school and college admissions becoming ever more competitive, some parents are forced to think early on about how to help their daughter stick out from the crowd. This often means signing […]
How to Build Your Daughter’s Confidence
Guest post by Isabel F. William.
If you’re a parent, then you’ve probably been told at least once that you’re overprotecting your child or that you should let them try things on their own so they can gain confidence. But you can’t build your daughter’s confidence without enough support and encouragement.
So, how do you give your child the right amount of support and independence without hovering around and worrying about them every second? If you’d like to learn how, here are a couple of suggestions that should help you raise your girl to be a confident and mature adult.
Be mindful of labels
You’ve probably heard people call businesswomen bossy or control freaks who […]
“Papa, Let’s Play Princess” – A Gay Dad’s Perspective
The day my daughter was born was the happiest of my life. As a gay man, I questioned if I would ever become a parent. But here I was, holding this tiny human that would one day call me Papa.
And she was a girl!
I hoped for a girl. I felt that I knew girls. Most of my friends were girls. My professional circle was mostly female. I never felt particularly masculine myself.
This was going to be easy!
Let’s rewind a bit. As a kid, I loved everything about girl-world. I secretly owned three Barbies that I literally kept hidden in my closet. I wanted to be a dancer but I was […]
Can Green Be a Girl-Color Too?
The following was written by Kaci Palomino, a Brave Like a Girl follower, and babysitter to the two Brave Girls. Thank you, Kaci, for sharing with us a great way to start the discussion about gender equality!
Today, during the regular after-school pickup, one of my little ones asked me if green can be a girl-color, too. I checked my rearview mirror to catch her peering down at her bright green shirt. I shot a glance at her big sister, who responded with an It-Wasn’t-Me shrug and a Here-We-Go eyebrow raise. These kids are starting to know me too well…
“EVERY color belongs to EVERYONE,” I sang, “and the idea that a color should only belong to some people, but […]
Kids Rocked the Women’s March (Slideshow)
Women’s marches broke all kinds of records everywhere again. Those videos showing huge crowds in all major cities fill me with hope.
Last year, the movement surprised many. We knew it would be a big and strong response to the political climate. But no one expected crowds of such proportions. And those of us who stayed home… well, we regretted having missed out on such a historic moment.
But not this year! Not everyone can travel to large (usually coastal) cities. So it seems that every midsized city organized their own march. I would love to find more info about how many people marched all over the country. We marched in Richmond, VA. Friends of mine marched in other small […]
5 Life Lessons for Girls from the Princess in Black
Princess or Superhero? Dress or cape? Beauty or strength?
The Princess in Black says you can do both.
To the world, Princess Magnolia is just like any other princess – frilly dresses, glass slippers, and all. She enjoys prim-and-proper with her princess friends – until her monster-alarm ring goes off. “What is that sound?” they ask. She dodges the question, makes her way to the broom closet, and changes into superhero attire. Through a secret tunnel, she exits unnoticed. Landing on her horse’s back, she is on a mission. She is… The Princess in Black.
“Nah, I don’t like black,” my daughter told me when I showed her the book for […]
You Should Talk About Race with Your Kids
Last week, a Snapchat video was made public, where White students from a middle school in Virginia held down African-American students in sexually explicit positions while making racist remarks.
Naturally, parents were appalled. Social media responses of “This is not who we are” and “I can’t believe this is happening in 2017” abounded. But the truth is that as a nation, this is who we are. This stuff happens in 2017, and it will continue to happen until we take responsibility.
Trying to figure out how something like this could happen in “our own backyard,” people were quick to throw blame. One comment read, “The kids are not the problem, their parents are the problem!” And […]
10 Awesome Brave Girl Quotes
When girls and women speak, you better listen! Check out these truths spoken by amazing women.
Write them down, or share them with a friend. Read them to your daughter, discuss them at the dinner table!
Be inspired to live bravely!
How to Talk to Your Daughter About Sexual Assault *
#MeToo
Social media feeds were filled with the hashtag #metoo yesterday. It started with Alyssa Milano’s tweet:
If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote “Me too” as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.
I hope it worked… for creating awareness, at least. As a male, I can say that men have no idea how common harassment is, whether it’s blatant or subtle. Since sexual harassment doesn’t affect us in the same way, we aren’t paying attention. This needs to change.
I’m reminded of a Facebook post by a friend, who had a conversation with her 3-year-old […]
