Like it or not, your daughter will probably begin to notice boys at some point. Refusing to let your daughter talk about them, or telling her it's wrong for her to be giving them a thought, is probably a mistake. If you won't discuss boy stuff with her, she'll find someone else to talk to, someone who's likely to give her misinformation — you know, like her BFF, who knows even less about the male gender than she does.
If you tell her she shouldn't even be thinking about boys yet, she won't stop thinking about them. She'll just feel guilty and become secretive. All that boy stuff may grow far bigger in her mind than it would have if you'd just said, "Of course you're noticing boys. You're growing up. So, tell me about it."
This article appeared in the January/February 2012 issue of
Thriving Family magazine. It was adapted from Moms' Ultimate Guide to the Tween Girl World by Nancy Rue. Copyright © 2010 by Nancy Rue.
Used by permission of Zondervan. Zondervan.com.
~ See more articles for parents of tweens. ~