Raising Daughters: Knowing When To Add The Frills!

It’s often said that mothers and daughters are enemies when they’re younger and then best of friends when they’re older. For most, this is true! Daughters can sometimes be just another hen in the nest which can cause friction, but having daughters, for me, is best thing in the world. The teenage years will never be easy whether with a son or a daughter, but what comes out of it is a fully grown woman that has your voice in her head as someone to listen to.

Daughters look up to their mothers every single day. They want to walk in their shoes, try on their jewelry and they ask their mothers to go with them to get their first piercing. Sure, there’s a difference between mom’s costume jewelry (which my girls take quite often) and sensitive hypoallergenic earrings for small ears, but that bonding experience is like no other. My girls love their accessories and that includes headbands, hair clips, jewels and pretty shoes.

Knowing when you should introduce the frills? That’s easy. RIGHT AWAY! Always add frills (until they refuse, like my oldest). From the minute they’re born, we put our babies into pretty dresses and as soon as they have long hair, we style with pretty hair clips. We even used pretty headbands before their hair was long. Accessories are the spice of life and when you introduce your daughter to the world of colorful glitter pens and hair clips, you’re opening her up to a world of frills.

There is no wrong time to add frills to our daughters’ lives and there is definitely no wrong way to do it. We go from popping a full headband with a large flower on their heads to pulling their veils down over their faces on their big day. The days go fast, and before you know it you’ll be watching her accessorize herself with an impeccable taste in shoes.

Knowing the latest trends in the toddler world are just as important as embracing the latest bright purple hair dye in the teenage world (Lord, help us all). Your daughter’s style is her signature, her imprint on her world; and encouraging that independence is important not just for her development, but for your relationship.

Of course, encouraging independence does have to happen within reason. You wouldn’t let your thirteen year old daughter Bedazzle her miniskirt and head out for a night on the town. Nope! Encourage your daughters to be strong, smart and beautiful. There is nothing wrong with adding frills to your daughter’s wardrobe and experimenting with different looks for her. It’s fun! It’s fun to sit together and make friendship bracelets, and teach her how to braid, teach her to hold herself up as an opinionated individual with a sense of style to rival anyone!

The day that you give birth to your daughter is a day that you will never forget. A little life in your hands to shape, mould and raise – and one day you will look at that little girl and realize she’s a woman, and that’s all your fault.

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