What I'm Listening To: Raising Daughters

I try not to take offense when people ask Kody and I if we're gonna keep trying for a boy after they recognize that we have two little girls.  Well, actually we do want more kids (somedays, haha!) but we kinda like our girls and if we were blessed with a boy we 'd be happy, but if we had another girl we'd be happy too.  You see we really take a lot of pride in raising our daughters.  We are praying to God that He guides us to raise women who are strong, integritable, honorable and compassionate.  I don't want to raise them to be strong like a man, no, I want to raise them to be strong like a woman.  I want them to chase after God so hard that they change the world as they go.  I want them to stand up for the weak, feed the hungry and clothe the poor.  But more than anything I want them to know that they are loved by two parents who cherish them and a God who cherishes them even more than we could!

So do we take raising our girls serious?  You bet we do!  And not only that, but we really invest in it.  Kody and I have read books, listened to podcasts and picked the brains of other parents that we look up to.  I'll be the first to admit that there are days where I can plainly admit that, "this day sucks and my toddler is simply a little jerk!"  But I won't give up and I'll ask for forgiveness from her and grace from God, because parenting is simply a trial and error adventure. 

One place that I always find great advice from is a website called Parenting On Purpose.  It's a radio broadcast that features help for parents and families and the topics get down to the "nitty gritty" of everyday parenting.  One topic that I've enjoyed listening to this last week was called, "Raising Daughters."  There's also one for raising boys as well, but I of course only listened to the daughter one for now.  I got a lot out of it because it really hit home, me being a daughter myself.  It really got down to the differences between girls and boys and how girls are more relational and boys are more physical.  For example, my Sheridan loves to play "princesses" and there's always a "mommy princess" and a "baby princess."  You see? Relational.  She's all about relations.  And that's what I have to be so conscious of when I'm disciplining her, if I act like I'm mad at her instead of just her behavior, she takes it so personal and will totally shut down.  So by listening to these podcasts I've realized that the way I speak to her when I'm disciplining her can make a huge difference when I'm looking for a healthy behavioral outcome.

I highly recommend listening to these podcasts if you have kids, they really make you feel like you're not alone out there and offer great guidance.

Check out this link to listen to listen to "Raising Daughters":

http://parentingonpurpose.org/broadcast/raising-daughters-part-1/ 

HAVE AN AMAZING DAY!

Cooped Up Mama Candace

All photos courtesy of Ford Photo.