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Baltimore Parenting Examiner
Showing entries for Category: Growing-up

Are your kids growing up too fast? Or do they just look like it?

POSTED May 5, 11:48 AM

If anyone has been to an elementary school lately, they are likely to notice that many girls in the 5th and 6th grade are wearing heels, make-up and have already begun to develop enough to need a bra. It’s kind of a strange scene, really: All of these miniature grown-up girls still gracing the halls that are painted with bright child-like murals. Even the younger girls with today’s fashion and hair trends seem like little pint-sized versions of pop princesses and socialites. One can’t be around a group of girls out on the playground without hearing someone belting out a Mylie Cyrus or Beyonce tune.

Yet, how many of these girls that have surpassed the “little girl” years are really any more grown up than we were? In days past, one might expect that these 11 and 12 year olds would be babysitting in another year or two. Household responsibilities for this age group would have grown by now to include helping more in the kitchen and with the yard work.

A lot of this has gone by the way-side. Girls aren’t anywhere near ready to babysit at 12 years old as we were. By law, they’ve only recently been allowed to stay at home alone themselves let alone being responsible for younger children. People are afraid to let younger kids run equipment out in the yard as we’ve become a much more safety conscious society than generations past.

All of that freedom we had as kids to play out in the neighborhood without worrying about kidnappers did more than offer fun. The chores assigned to us before parents were made aware of what “might” happen if they insist their 9-year-old mows the lawn did more than earn us a few dollars a week. Those things taught us how to fend for ourselves and how to be responsible for a job. We were given a lot more ownership, I think, than today’s kids who live in a world that just isn’t safe anymore.

So, though your daughter may request the Raven Simone tracks or Posh Spice haircut the next time you take her to the hairsylist, don’t mistake this for growing up.

Live fully,

Mia

www.findingdefinitions.com

Categories: Miley Cyrus , Growing up , posh spice

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Mia Redrick
Parenting expert Mia Redrick is an author, lecturer, radio personality, personal coach and mother of three young children. She is a leader in the push for the self-care of mothers, and shares her wisdom on how to raise children without sacrificing personal needs.