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 her […]

2019-05-17T17:37:31-04:00By Mark Loewen|

How to Talk to Your Daughter About Body Image

2018-10-31T15:58:35-04:00By Jaime Driscoll|

“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 afraid […]

2018-02-12T18:16:51-05:00By Mark Loewen|

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 the […]

2017-11-02T16:06:00-04:00By Mark Loewen|

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 about […]

2017-11-02T13:06:27-04:00By Mark Loewen|

8 Ways To Raise a Voiceless Daughter

Voiceless: adj. Lacking the power or right to express an opinion or exert control over affairs.

It’s opposite day!

Sarcasm usually comes easy to me but this post was incredibly hard to write. So much that I’ll start with a disclaimer:

Parents are doing the best they can, and I swear I’m not judging.

Raising kids is ridiculously hard – I know! And I know you have good intentions.

Lastly, remember each of these points isn’t terrible on their own, and we all do them sometimes – that’s fine. It’s when we practice them consistently that we rob our daughters of their voice.

I want to raise a girl who knows that she has the power […]

2017-11-02T13:13:10-04:00By Mark Loewen|

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No, You Can’t be a “Girl-Ninja”

No, You Can’t be a “Girl-Ninja”

“Look, Papa, I’m a girl-ninja,” said my daughter as she moved her hands around, fight mode.

Really? A girl ninja? Only five years old and somehow she picked up that ninjas had gender, male gender to be exact. “Whoa, that’s awesome,” I told her. “But also, it’s just called ninja, because you don’t call boys boy-ninjas.” She didn’t really care. She just kept showing off her moves. My husband gave me a look that said both, chill-out and thank you.

It bothers me, though it’s nothing new. This happens all the time. What exactly is inherently masculine about ninjas? Aren’t their bodies and faces all covered up? At least she knew she could be a ninja if she […]

2017-10-09T15:52:52-04:00By Mark Loewen|

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Recent Posts

8 Simple Ways to Help Your Daughter with School Stress

How to Talk to Your Daughter About Body Image

How to Build Your Daughter’s Confidence

“Papa, Let’s Play Princess” – A Gay Dad’s Perspective

Can Green Be a Girl-Color Too?