Birds of A Feather Flock Together

When I want to reflect on just how much -- and how quickly -- my children have grown, I usually flip through a photo album, pop in an old videotape or compare a growth line on the wall. But there's another way to measure just how much your kids have changed from last year to this one. It's called back-to-school shopping.

I'm not talking just about physical size -- you can also see changes in what they're concerned about.

Over the years, factors like color, sparkly-ness (is that even a word?), characters and other attributes have dictated clothing choices. Now, heading into junior high school, my daughter is all about fit. She wants her jeans to fit a certain way. She wants her shirts to have a certain look. She's got a picture in her mind of exactly how she wants to look and shopping has become an exhaustive search for the "right" clothes to get that look.

Sigh...I remember those days.

Specifically, I remember those days as the first time I was confronted with the limitations of my own body. You know what I mean. At five feet tall, I could wear a certain style of jeans, but they'd never look the way they do on a girl who's much taller. It was a frustrating and, at times, heartbreaking lesson in learning to accept myself.

That's a hard lesson at 13.

Adolescent girls are all about fitting in with their peer group. In fact, this study from the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, and the University of Miami found that peer groups have a huge impact on how teenage girls feel about -- and try to control -- their bodies. According to the study, athletic girls tend to be the least concerned with their weight, while girls who don't belong to any particular peer group were the most likely to be trying to lose weight. Beyond the health benefits, that's all the more reason to encourage my daughter to stay active -- and to hang out with other girls who are active, too. The more time you spend appreciating what your body can do, whether it's running faster, jumping higher or kicking harder, the less time you'll want to spend picking yourself apart in front of a mirror.

Comments

[MizFit]

*shoves head in sand as she doesnt even wanna ponder her toddler having a peer group yet*

LOVE THE NEW LOOK!

[Sagan]

Nice new layout!

Its true that it does seem to be the more athletic types who are less concerned with body image. So you can get the health benefits as well as the self esteem benefits from exercise:)

[WeightingGame]

i remember not being able to wear the Guess jeans ALL the thin girls were wearing b/c I was tall and a bit bigger. So I wore skirts all the time and, of course, got teased about that for no reason!
I feel like at the age, you can't wine. Kids are awful to each other. So smart to be aware and instill the kind of life lessons you're teaching your daughter.

[Dara Chadwick]

Oh, MizFit...it'll happen sooner than you think.

I completely agree about the self-esteem benefits, Sagan.

Thanks for the props on the new look. I hope to be making a few other changes soon.

Leslie, I wanted Guess jeans so badly when I was in high school. They just never fit my booty right!