How to Help Your Daughter Love Herself
On my flight back from Miss Expo on Monday morning I had the wonderful pleasure of reading More Than Saying I Love You: 4 Powerful Steps that Help Children Love Themselves by Dr. Andie Goodman Weiner, Ed.D. Dr. Andie, in very simple prose and with exercises at the end of each chapter, lays out the steps to help children learn to love themselves.
Dr. Andie’s premise is that every child is born a loving being. As a child grows though, she is exposed to outside influences that shape her perception of herself. These outside influences are parents, other family members, teachers and caregivers, and other people that will regularly be in a child’s life. These people will have either a positive or negative impact on the child. And as Dr. Andie also points out in her prologue, children are growing up in a very complex world and they need to be able ‘self-love’ in order to avoid destructive behavior.
Dr. Andie starts each chapter with a letter to her daughter, Aly. The letters are written at each stage of Aly’s life, from birth to when she was packing to start college. The letters are very moving and reflect Dr. Andie’s internal struggles on how best to guide Aly through her growing up years and give her the tools to be self-loving.
I think the most important lesson I learned from this book was Dr. Andie’s use of ‘YOU’ when talking of various situations with her daughter. Instead of saying ‘I love the crayon drawing you did in school’ Dr. Andie would ask Aly ‘what do YOU think of the drawing?’, wait for a reply and engage Aly in her own thoughts about the drawing. By turning the ‘I’ to a ‘You’ Dr. Andie removes herself as the one giving approval. Therefore her daughter is not looking outside of herself for approval, she is turning inward and validating her own feelings.
Dr. Andie believes that children who love themselves are “more accepting and compassionate toward others. They appreciate their own talents, make wise decisions, and refrain from hurtful behaviors and relationships”. For Aly this was confirmed when she wrote her college essay and described the lessons in self-love she learned from her mother. The college essay starts off the book and you learn right away the meaning of self-love to a young woman.
I would recommend More Than Saying I Love You: 4 Powerful Steps that Help Children Love Themselves to any parent. The message is so important in today’s society, especially for girls, that loving oneself is the key to standing up for what you believe in and what you are capable of.
Leave a comment about this blog post and enter to win a copy of More Than Saying I Love You: 4 Powerful Steps that Help Children Love Themselves. Comments must be left by 12 midnight PST on Friday, May 4th, 2012.
I need this book. My daughter will be 9 in July, and as she’s getting older, I can see her struggling to figure herself out more and more. I love the tip of changing the “I” to “You” – so that she isn’t looking for outside approval. I will definitely start that immediately.
Thanks for your comment Jessica. My children are grown up and I’m going to start with the ‘You’ too. It is a simple idea to put into place for any age group.
i would love to have that book for all the young ladys in my family to help them find they self PO n they will beable to share with friends.
Hi Lillie, It’s great to hear you want to share with all of the young ladies in your family.
I need this book. My 10 year old daughter is always thinking negative about herself.
Thank you for your comment Yolanda. Definitely need to turn negative into positive.
I think it’s sad that we have to teach our daughters to love themselves!! Mine is 11. Because she is smart some of her peers call her names like “weird” and “strange”. I watch her struggle with this everyday!!!
Hi Terri, it is hard at that age to stand out for being smart. Tell her to stick with it though, in the long run she will come out ahead.
Its good to know that I am not alone. My daughter says she hates herself and it breaks my heart. She has been bullied for being different and we are always telling her she is amazing. I love the tip asking her what she thinks, I just hope she can see how great she is.
Hello Jane, Thank you for your comment and I wish the best of luck with your daughter. This can be such a tough time for girls. Dove has some excellent tools through their self esteem project. You might want to check them out: http://www.dove.us/Social-Mission/Self-Esteem-Toolkit-And-Resources/Self-Esteem-Guide-for-Moms-of-Girls11-16.aspx.