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Sarah has been asking a lot of questions for the last year or so. Not the "Where do babies come from?" question but a lot of the "Why do you look like you do? Why do I look like I do? When will I look more like you? Why does Jack look like he does?" questions. I think when girls have brothers they are naturally curious from a young age.
As you probably know, I'm a big believer in having conversations and giving honest, age-appropriate answers when asked questions. I'm not going to pretend to not have the answers, leaving my kids to Google or ask a friend. And even though I'm secretly dying inside as I answer the questions, I do my best to not show my embarrassment.
My cousin recommended this book to me.
It's published by American Girl, and it's VERY well done. Sarah and I read a chapter a night together, and we discuss what's in the book.
It starts off very tame.
The intro is all about loving the way God made you. (Well, I interject the "God"' part.) But it tells girls to not compare themselves to the girls on TV. It teaches them that growing up is not a race; it doesn't matter if you're the first one to lose all your baby teeth or the last, your body will grow and change at exactly the right time. It also emphasizes inner beauty. There's a line from the book that says something about the most beautiful girl in the room being the one who's most confident.
Then there's a chapter on hair care, a chapter on skin care, one on nail care, good oral hygiene, changes like getting glasses or braces...
Sarah's learned a lot and has been sure to point out to me every time my forehead is shiny that my skin is getting oily and I should go wash my face. :/
It, of course, works up to puberty. If you plan to call body parts by names like "hoo-ha", this is not the book for you. ;) They use the correct terminology. There are parts of the book that Sarah and I skip over. I don't feel that she needs to know all of her different choices when it comes to feminine products at this point. But we did talk about the changes of puberty.
Believe it or not, for most girls, around 9 yrs old is when girls start wearing little camis under their shirts, and some even get their first bras. We're not that far away from all of these things.
The book is not controversial, in my mind, at all. There aren't any parts in there about male anatomy. This is not a book about sex. This is a book for girls about the changes to their bodies and the importance of caring for and respecting their bodies.
Sarah looks forward to our time together to read it. It's just her and me, talking about being girls. But we also made a deal at the very beginning that if we started to read something that made her nervous about growing up, we'd stop and skip that part. And Sarah has held to the deal.
I plan to read it again with her in about a year. It's intended for girls 8 -10. There's a more in-depth book that I haven't looked at for older girls. I'm hoping that we're a LONG way away from in-depth. Not ready for that. ;)
But I throw this book out there to you, ladies raising little girls. If nothing else, it opens up a dialogue. You could always glance at it and, if you choose not to read it with your daughters some day, you'll at least have a list of topics that you may want to discuss.
