I am a girl and parent expert with over 20 years of experience helping families as a therapist, life coach, girl mentor, and group faciltator.
One of the ways I love to support girls and parents is to help them understand what is developmentally normal. I also want them to understand what to be on the lookout for and have tools and strategies when things go awry.
Because, for example, if we don’t know hot soup is going to burn our tastebuds off, we’re going to dive into that cup and suffer the consequences. However, even with this knowledge, sometimes we ignore it and dive in again. Or maybe we have periods in our life when we are doing great in letting the soup cool. But then one day, you’re so hungry, you can’t wait and💥 you’re burned.
Teaching girls and parents is a lot like eating hot soup. If no one tells you hot soup burns your tastebuds, you’ll have to learn it on your own. If no one tells you about this, you might conclude this is just the way it is and do this on repeat until somewhere along the way, you understand the effects of eating piping hot soup off the stove.
Sure, even if you get sage advice, sometimes you’ll ignore this knowledge. You might get away with not being burned, but trust me (as an avid soup eater and not great impulse control when hungry), your tastebuds will eventually get scorched again.
Where Having a Girl and Parent Expert Comes In
In order to not get burned, both literally and figuratively, both parents and girls benefit to have experts educate them on what’s normal and what to watch out for. Yes, sometimes people do need to learn these lessons on our own. And even with the knowledge, kids might test the limits. However, having knowledge in the back of her brain saying “Oh yeah, Sierra told me it’s normal to feel self-conscious but there are things I can do to better support myself other than skipping lunch” may really help your daughter in the future.
This goes for parents helping their children with worry, anxiety, and other challenges. You might keep doing the same thing over and over, yielding unfavorable results. Letting a trained expert in human development and psychology can help parents understand what’s normal, what’s not, and what you can do about it to be truly effective and helpful.
So let’s recap here…..let your soup cool down before eating it, no matter how hungry you are. Teach your daughter about what’s developmentally normal and about healthy ways of coping. Allow the experts into your life so you and your child can grow and live well.
We’ve got plenty of Girl and Parent Workshops happening this January from girl and parent expert Sierra Dator. Check out our offerings here.
Also, check out Carrie Lewis’s helpful book on All About Anxiety for those with children grades 3-7.
