Girls seem to be conditioned to seek individualisation only under certain circumstances<ol><li>Be confident but not conceited </li><li>Be smart, but no-one likes a know-it-all</li><li>Ambition is good, but trying too hard is bad </li><li>Be assertive, but only if it doesn’t upset anyone else. </li></ol>

Over-apologising 

If choosing which screen to occupy your child, opt for the TV instead of a phone/iPad. Program content for children is of higher quality with 0 ads. Children also do other activities such as colouring and move about as they watch TV, compared to if they are glued to a portable screen.

Screens 

“Girls are still raised with a psychology that is trained to think about other people before themselves. This is a real recipe for disaster”

Play can allow girls to connect their inner world with the outer world

Nature Play

Your feelings can provide insight into your reaction before the conscious mind.

Inner Voice

It takes courage to “stand up for what you do and don’t want to do, especially when you feel pressured……to trust the boundaries of what [you do] and [don’t] feel comfortable with. Brave enough not to bend because the world says [you] should.”

Healthy Boundaries

Girls can mimic behaviours like relational aggression because at a young age they don’t see the virtual world ( where these behaviours might be displayed) as different from the real world.

Friendships

Humour is a healthy coping mechanism for girls and is a healthy way to regulate emotions.

Humour 

Imagination facilitates a sense of wonder and spontaneity unique to childhood

Imagination

Pretend play allows children to learn about how the real world works (pg 230)

Pretend Play

When little girls are stressed “remember just to listen, validate their feelings and ask how you can help”

'Maggie is a national treasure.' Tracey Spicer, AM '. . . sage wisdom for parenting and supporting girls.' Mona Delahooke, PhD, bestselling author and pediatric psychologist The early years of a little girl's life will shape her future in powerful ways. Maggie Dent, Australia's queen of common-sense parenting, has investigated the development period from birth to age eight. Drawing on nearly 5,000 survey results, the latest research, and her own extensive experience as an educator, counsellor, facilitator, mum and grandmother, Maggie shows us how to help our girls build an emotional and psychological base for life. Secure foundations, Maggie argues, will help insulate our girls against anxiety and other mental health challenges as they grow into their teens and feel more capable and resilient while keeping their own authentic voice as they enter womanhood. Written with all the rigour, compassion and humour we have come to expect from one of Australia's best-loved parenting voices, this is both a deeply practical guide to raising girls, as well as a celebration and intimate meditation on the state of being female, which women of all ages will relate to.

Pretend Play

Similar ideas to Pretend Play

Bring pretend into the workplace

Actively play out different types of responses

Good Dialogue Matters