Do you have nicknames for your kids? As you know I call my girls my Special Kayes! That is their nickname on social media! It’s easier then saying “little 1” “little 2” and “little 3”. Plus, my “littles” (which I’m not sure I love that name on social) are not that little anymore. I have a 10 year old now! I know I’m in shock to! I also have a 7 and 5 year old! My 10 year old is becoming more body aware. I almost cried the other day when she said “Mom I’m sorry I can’t wear this Elsa Frozen top anymore I’m too old for that!” She’s also asking about her body and they’re discussing it in school. As I am a mom of 3 girls and a mom with a Kinesiology degree I want to make sure I can control the conversation of body awareness at home so there is no “fake news” coming from friends! We’ve already dealt with the “so and so called me fat” just last year. Plus, I have 2 out of 3 kids who wear glasses and we’ve dealt with the teasing that came along with that. Last summer I was part of a Dove campaign and I found out about their Dove Self Esteem Program. I thought this year it would be a great idea to sit down with my girls and do the activities in the program. It’s called Mindful Me.
Even when the girls were toddlers and pre schoolers I would talk to them about making someone feel wonderful today with nice words. My middle one wins the gold star with this one! All my daughters try and compliment someone daily. However, my middle Special Kaye is constantly complimenting women and men. Whether we’re at the store and she compliments someone’s glasses or their hair. She knows how special that person feels when they hear good things. I’ve explained to the girls we should also be complimenting ourselves! In the “Mindful Me” activity pack the kids and I placed pictures on how fabulous they are, we even drew pictures of our bodies and talked about mindful eating. The package takes about 2 hours to complete. We took our time doing the activities. The first one activity you need a pen, glue stick and scissors. Your daughter also needs a photo of herself. You cut out the photo and place in the frame in the package. Then you write how unique you are, 3 things you enjoy doing and 3 things you’re good at! Then the next time you’re daughter is frustrated or disappointed about something you both can go back and review how fantastic she is! You may do this already at your home without the Mindful Me activities but what I loved about this booklet is that we did it together and the girls talked more and it opened the conversation up! There are so many amazing things to do in the “Mindful Me” booklet. Another activity that my daughters enjoyed was writing and drawing about their “Brilliant Bodies”. What we did was draw an outline of our body and the amazing things our body can do from our legs to our lips. Then in different colours we wrote down where on our bodies we experience feelings – like happiness, anger, fear, sadness, love and surprise. Finally, we wrote a love letter to our body. You can do a poem if you like as well! My daughters wrote a song to their bodies! These are just a few of the activities in the package.
Sometimes it’s tough getting kids to talk and maybe they just want to draw or write how they feel. There’s even a mini meditation exercise! The girls already meditate at school and have been telling me I need to do it more! My Special Kayes and I loved the power poses as well at the end of the booklet. They were giggling throughout! Here is one of their power posing pics!
We have one more activity to do. We plan on finishing it this week. Our gratitude letter! I’m also going to write one and send it to someone who has made a positive impact on my life. My mom! I’m so happy we did this together as a family. We also started doing daily affirmations with the cute Doves below. Try it for 2 weeks! It’s simple. Print off the Doves and cut them out. Then with your daughter write down something daily she wants to celebrate. We would do it in the morning before we went to school. My daughters would write what they wanted to celebrate doing well. Below are 2 of the Doves we wanted to share with you! You will definitely see a difference in your daughter’s confidence!
Place the Doves somewhere where your daughter will see it throughout the day. This is just one way you can help #InspireConfidence in your own home with your daughter, niece or granddaughter! Did you know 60% of girls worldwide feel their body confidence is holding them back? It’s been 10 years since Dove began a mission to do something about it. Here are some of the resources we used in our family. You can download them here selfesttem.dove.ca. Try the Mindful Me activities and give your daughter the printable decal daily for 2 weeks and write something to celebrate herself. You can write the first couple and maybe get your daughter to assist you. Watch her confidence grow. Dove has reached over 2 million girls with The Dove Self Esteem program. Watch some of those amazing girls’ stories below who are now women! Oh and don’t forget we would love for you to join our Twitter party @ymcbuzz on Thursday May 18th at 9pm to win prizes and talk to some about the DSEP.
This is part of the YummyMummyClub.ca and Dove 10 years of Beautiful #InspireConfidence sponsored program. I’ve received compensation as a thank for my participation. This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsors.
Leave a Reply