We have four daughters. For a while it looked like our family would be only girls.
This brought some interesting comments from people we would meet. Some good, some not so good. (My least favorite: "Are you going to try for a boy?")
I guess the idea of my fantastic husband being surrounded by all these females could cause a few smiles, but I never quite understood the big deal. After all, I'm a girl too.
Let's be honest: parenting can be a tough gig, no matter if you're raising boys or girls.
Since we're Christians, we've wrestled with how to raise godly young women.
My husband and I always wanted to answer their questions honestly. We've tried to protect their innocence in a world that thinks we're crazy.
As a family, we've limited TV and movies. We've read books. We've had many, many discussions about our bodies, emotions, things we've heard on the news, and the like. Our policy has always been: we can talk about anything. Home is a safe place to ask questions. Mom and Dad don't know everything, but we'll look for answers with you.
And I still felt like we needed something else to help us with the really important stuff.
Sheila Wray Gregoire and her daughters have just released EXACTLY what I was looking for.
The Whole Story
These new online courses answer the questions our daughters need answered in a friendly, not lecturing way. The content is age appropriate. (There are two courses, one designed for tween girls, one for older teens.)
There are five units in each course covering everything from periods to friendship to healthy self-image.
Each unit contains a video (or videos) to watch, discussion questions, infographics, and other printables. You can keep track of your progress and re-watch a previous unit at any time. The VIP course also has a Facebook group where parents can assist and encourage each other in this wonderful and wild process of raising young women.
Friends, we are not living in a time when you can just pretend the bad stuff doesn't exist.
Don't think your daughters aren't getting the world's message: it's coming through loud and clear even if you limit screen time, homeschool, and cover their eyes in the grocery check out. (Have you SEEN magazine covers lately? #soapbox)
The days of p*rn*graphy (asterisks to deter the spambots) being hard to find are over. You don't have to search to find it these days, sometimes it finds you. And don't think it's just a boy problem: it's definitely an issue for girls now, too. (Both in terms of seeking it out, and what girls think is "required" of them by their boyfriends.)
The thing about answering questions is that not all children ask questions. Some of our daughters are more open than others. But that doesn't mean that the less likely to ask questions child doesn't have any questions.
Do you know where kids go when they have questions these days? Google.
And if that doesn't scare you, I don't know what will.
How can we equip our daughters to handle this onslaught?
The answer is not to hide.
We can't quit.
Learn.
Don't settle for simple. (ie things like the "just kiss dating goodbye" movements of Christianity Past) There is no one size fits all for heart issues. This isn't about making our daughters ashamed to be female. And it's not just about preparing them to be wives someday. It certainly isn't treating God's gift of human sexuality as a utilitarian subject to be covered in Health Class.
Engage.
Wrestle.
Our daughters are worth it.
I can endure more than a few minutes of awkwardness for their sake. And thanks to Sheila and her daughters, maybe those moments will be a tiny bit less awkward.
You can check out The Whole Story here.
If you're interested in a specific course:
Yes, there are affiliate links in this post. But this is not a sponsored post. I paid for the VIP course out of my own pocket.
The young women I'm raising are priceless and the cost of this course is more than worth it to me.
