RMMB: My pre-teen daughter, her body image and an overly concerned dad

I'm hoping my latest post over at Rocky Mountain Moms Blog will open up a discussion on how to best make sure our daughters (and sons) have and maintain a healthy self-esteem and positive self-image. In our family my husband definitely worries more about our children's weight than I do and I think a shift in focus is what he needs. It's all about living a healthy lifestyle and not about body shape or pant size.

We are still having discussions about the girls and I hope the discussions will continue (out of our daughters' earshot of course) until we are on the same page. We are not perfect parents but we can at least try our best to do right by our children. You can read the full post here. Feel free to leave your two cents in the comments section and continue the discussion.

P.S. Go easy on Nathan...he is a man and therefore a little slow on the uptake but he'll get it! --Emily

"My pre-teen daughter, her body image and an overly concerned dad"

Guest post: "Do these glasses make me look cool?"

Continuing with our belated back-to-school theme for this week I have a wonderful post from Lauren Horsley (@supermomcentral), aka Supermom Central. If anyone is a supermom (or super mom, which works too) it's Lauren. She never ceases to make me smile all the while amazing me with how cool a mom she really is. Here's her walk down the often awkward elementary-school memory lane. Enjoy!

"Do these glasses make me look cool?" My answer? Absolutely not!

I am a child of the 80's, and proud of it. I openly admit to high side-ponytails, even higher bangs, and a fingerless glove I fashioned out of an old lacy stocking. I rolled my pant legs. I had a matching neon colored scrunchy for every outfit. One time, for 3 weeks straight, I wore a stud earring in one ear and a hoop in the other.

But nothing, not even the stone-washed jean jacket and smiley faced mood ring, could put me to shame like my most dreaded accessory – my eye-glasses. I began wearing them in 2nd grade and knew immediately that no $60 pair of Girbauds was going to make up for the daily fashion faux-pas. I tried everything to rid myself of them. I “lost” them on purpose, then quickly “found” them when my mother threatened to dock my allowance for eternity to pay for new ones. I pretended to no longer need them, but one night of blurry TV talked me out of that. I hid them as often as possible and hoped no one would notice they're absence. But they did. And I did. I was blind as a bat without them.

My resentment of my glasses is painfully evident in this 3rd grade photo – can you see the indentations on the bridge of my nose? I yanked off the glasses just seconds before the picture was snapped but couldn't hide the evidence. Other times, I wasn't quick enough...



How I wish I could go back and chat with my sweet seven-year-old self. I'd tell her not to worry so much about the outside appearance – that healthy inner-vision is much more important. I'd tell her to focus on developing the art of being thoughtful, curious, kind and interesting. Because, in the long run, those character features would serve her much better than perfect facial features. And I'd tell her that boys who dig chicks in glasses are fewer and father between than boys who like permed hair, but WAY more gnarly.

I'd also tell her that in 6th grade she was going to get contacts, so just take a chill pill until then. That's right – chill pill. She'd know what I meant.

However, I wouldn't tell her that as the glasses disappeared, the pimple plague would hit, along with a long series of bad haircuts. Some things are best left as a surprise. ~Lauren

Guest post: "Home schooling & parenting tween-teens from my new perspective"

The following is a guest post by my friend April Atwater (@sweetlifeinthe) from Sweet Life in the Valley. If you haven't discovered her fabulous blog and sister sites like the new Out & About with the Family then you're in for a real treat! April is amazing and I'm so excited to have her write something for freshly baked. Enjoy!

Home Schooling & Parenting Tween-teens from My New Perspective

I prided myself in being a great mother to my children when they were younger. I was the mom who made crafts, took field trips, made the cupcakes for the class parties and more. I was involved with everything. Now that my kids are in the tween years and more independent I have been bit thrown. What does a good mom to tween-teens look like?

Not too many books out there help you with or talk about being a cool and effective tween-teen parent. After a lot of trying to figure it out I came to some exciting conclusions. I want my children to live a full life. I want to teach them to love living and learning. Since I home school my three tweens and I own my own business we have a lot of flexibility with our time. My kids are now old enough to share all my loves and to explore the world at a monuments notice. I am planning to take them to the pottery studio to show them how to throw a pot. We are going to make some pinhole cameras then develop the film in our make shift dark room in the pantry. We are going to explore their interests from apprenticing with a pastry chef to trying their hand at web design to indulging an interest in history and dates.

My tween twins are now writing their own blog for tweens, Cool Stuff 4 Us, which will teach them hands on writing and business marketing skills. We are planning a lot of traveling to see this beautiful country. After all, those tween-teen years are to prepare them for adulthood. Our more formal education will be centered around preparing for college classes. We are exploring their talents to help them figure out what they would like to study after the high school years.

If you were to ask someone to tailor your tween-teen years to help you become a successful adult today with all the advantages you could have used, what would that look like? This is the question I am asking myself for all three of my kids. I am excited! It will be fun! This is what I will look like as a tween-teen mom. I think I love what that looks like. ~April