How to Raise a Confident Girl Who Feels Like She is Enough
by Ashley Franklin, author of Not Quite Snow White
With summer in full swing, it’s time to plan what to do with your princess (warrior, fairy, or whatever her preference). Fun-filled days can also be filled with opportunities to boost your daughter’s confidence. As parents, all we have to do is take A.C.T.I.O.N. Here are a few ways you can help raise confident girls.
Allow her to be herself.
Are capes and cleats her fashion choice of the week? Let her go for it! Encourage your daughter to express herself in many ways. Whether it’s through fashion, sports, academics, or whatever her imagination dreams up, be supportive of her figuring out what she likes and dislikes. Your support now will lay a strong foundation in her later years that the two of you can build on.
Center your home as a safe space.
The world can be a big and scary place. Make your home a judgement free zone where your girl can feel free to laugh, cry, and explore all aspects of herself. Welcome the topics she wants to discuss and help her to feel comfortable coming to you about tough topics. Be her safe person in her safe space.
Teach her to stand up for herself.
There’s nothing wrong with being quiet and shy. There’s also nothing wrong with being loud and exuberant. Girls of all personalities need to know it’s their right to stand up for themselves. Whether it’s to right a wrong or proclaim their space, girls need to know that their voices matter. Teach your daughter how to be assertive. Teach her how to deal with confrontation in a healthy way.
Introduce her to self-love.
Having a spa day, relaxing with a book, exercising, and having fun with friends are all great ways to teach your daughter how to love herself. Teach her that her time, ideas, and overall self are valuable. Create a wall of affirmation as a visible reminder.
Organize trips to expose her to new things.
Show her the world! Take a trip to another country or to the local museum to open her mind. Attend festivals and events hosted by those from other cultures to open her eyes to the amazing diversity to be found across the globe. You can also introduce her to other cultures by way of different foods, music, dance, cinema, and more.
Never allow her to talk bad about her body.
Help her to be her own biggest fan. Show and practice body positivity. This means that you should avoid talking negatively about your own body. If there is something she’s not pleased with about her body, have positively framed discussions about her feelings and think of encouraging ways to address them. If she is comfortable in her own skin, that’s worthy of a celebration.
Ashley Franklin is an African-American Muslim writer, mother of two, and college professor. Ashley received her M.A. from the University of Delaware, which has given her the opportunity to teach and tutor online at the college level from home. While she loves singing (badly), dancing (offbeat), and acting (ridiculous), she’d much rather leave it to the professionals (fearless kids like Tameika). Ashley lives in Arkansas with her husband, Michael, and her own fearless kids, Bilal and Mikhail. You can learn more about Ashley on her blog, www.ashleyfranklinwrites.wordpress.com/
