Reader Question:

What suggestions do you have for parents raising daughters today, when everything is airbrushed and advertised that being perfect is possible,....you see it...it has to be real! and it is believable...right?

Part of what I am wondering is how to teach loving yourself in just the way you are created when teenagers today are exposed to so much?

That question is a hard one to answer. I think that some of the best things that mothers can do is watching what they say about themselves in front of their children(especially their daughters).  All I know is that from my personal experience my Mom was a great example to me.  She never complained about her weight, and I NEVER heard her talk negatively about her body. She ate healthy and exercised, but she also ate treats every now and then :) I saw how she treated her body and I patterned my life after her.  I'm sure she wasn't always happy with her body but she never showed it.  I think that because of that I grew up having a very positive view of my body.  Don't ever call yourself fat, or skinny, don't joke about it excessively, and always talk positive!!

Today I saw this quote on Instagram @beauty_redefined

I read in a research article Parenting and the child's world; Influences on academic, intellectual, and social-emotional development  I read that parents are the strongest influences in their child's lives (Borkowski, 2001). I feel like most parents don't fully realize this.  I also feel like when your child is a teenager this can be more true than we sometimes like to think it is. I don't have teenagers so I don't know how to suggest you teach them. But from what I have observed with friends, and family, teenagers learn more from watching what we say and do than from what we tell them to say and do.  

Borkowski JG, Ramey SL, & Bristol-Power M, Parenting and the child's world; Influences on academic, intellectual, and social-emotional development. Mahwah, NJ: Psychology Press, 2001.