Only a few short years ago, I had a beautiful baby placed in my arms with dark hair, searching eyes and a sweet disposition. She was so innocent, an angel straight from heaven. As I gazed down into her little face and held her tiny hand that barely curled around one of my fingers, I thought of her path. I thought of all the things she might be. I wanted to know her. I wanted to understand who she was and what she was thinking at that very moment. I pondered the years that lay before us, the years of being and growing together. I envisioned her twirling in tutu’s and running in the grass, playing dress ups with her friends and learning to read. There was so much to experience together. I could hardly wait.
I don’t remember much of the next several months. My life turned upside down as I learned the mundane tasks that would be mine. I boiled bottles before I used them, changed her diaper every 30 minutes, packed extra onsies for a possible spill, and became accustomed to lack of sleep. I vagely remember my baby learning to walk and say her first sentence, although I remember the feeling of bliss when she had accomplished new milestones.
Looking at my six beautiful daughters, is almost surreal to me. Are they really all mine and when did all these babies get here? What kind of fog have I been in to have been through so much with them and only recall flashes of times spent kissing a scraped knee or reading a story quietly on the hammack? I know I was there. The endless hugs, stories told, diapers changed, food served and swings pushed. I know that woman was me, but somehow she is distant.
Memory is a wierd thing. We feel like there is no way we will forget all of the day to day thoughts and experiences, but they are slippery. Sometimes I am grateful for this because I know there are pains in my past that I never want to recal as sharp and vivid as they once were. I almost pride myself in being able to tuck things into a corner of my mind where they don’t bother me. Times when it was easier to go to bed mad then deal with things that felt out of my control. Somehow these stong feelings lay in the past along with all of the great ones. The memories that had me sailing on clouds and feeling like I could conquer the world; they are all distant. Somewhere mingled together, in the past.
Days are slow, but years are fast. Since then I have had four more baby girls placed in my arms, raised one step daughter and one niece. With each child added to my home the time seemed to race ahead with an uncontrolable speed. All of the little things I used to worry about as a brand new mother with a few kids seem very distant to me now. My worries turned from spilled milk or a missed nap to their survival as a beautiful daughter of God being surrounded by messages that tear them down.
It is always easier to visualize the beauty and greatness held in others, than to capture it within onself.
I have spent countless hours trying to find ways to show my girls their beauty. Telling them they are perfect, smart, happy and beautiful seems to work well when they are young and believe everything you say.
It always makes me grin ear to ear when I tell them they are FABULOUS and they say “I KNOW”!
Over time the world begins to send other messages and their answer turns from a solid acceptance of greatness to a wishy washy denial. Messages that are false and very damaging. My sweet, beautiful girls start letting negative voices in without even realizing it. I start hearing comments like their hair isn’t good enough, or their skin is the wrong color. I remember feeling the same way and looking back it saddens me. What chance do they have when every form of media screams that they aren’t good enough? Movies, T.V., music, magazines, the internet, and one and on. Society decides what is beautiful and shoves it into their developing and vulnerable mind. Every magazine rack in the grocery store sells an image. An image that is unattainable because everyone is different inside and out. We are unique and that is where beauty lies: in our differences.
For these reasons I have spent a lot of time thinking about how I can show my girls what beauty really is. I want to put together a collection of stories and images of real women. Women from all walks of life with stories to tell as different as they are. I want to show them the beauty that comes with age and experience and to share with them women that can be their heros.
My Mommy with Ella
I am sick of hearing that Brittany Spears or Hannah Montana are my daughters “role models”. I want to take the next several months to collect the stories of 100 females. My project will consist of women and girls I have found via the Internet, blogs, Facebook, friends and family.
I will take these pictures and use them to make a website dedicated to my daughters. My goal is to strengthen their view of themselves and the 100 women who participate and the countless people who will read their stories.
My Grandma Gourley’s “FIRST s’more!”
So my friends, I am begging you to help me out *YESYOU*. Tell every female you know about what I am trying to do for my daughters. Let your sisters, mothers, grandmothers, friends, blog aquaintences, daughters, and everyone else in on the plan! Together we can all make a difference in how women are viewed and how we view ourselves. Help me teach my children that beauty is unique to each individual. Don’t worry about wrinkles, size and shape, color, or hair. Just share who you are and what makes you beautiful. It can be strengths, talents, features, your cute shoes…WHATEVER!
Be real about womanhood, and the things that make you laugh! Within the site will be links back to the women who are awesome enough to submit their information for my project. If you have a blog, I want you to get credit for being you!
If you are willing and as excited as I am to get this project going, leave me a comment and spread the word! Women need to stick together and build each other up, not tear each other down.Please, Please, Please….. PLEASE jump on board! If you are interested,
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
If you aren’t interested in participating, I would also love a mention on your blog, facebook, twitter, etc. to link someone here that may be interested.
Thanks!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
My project will be called:
In My Daughter’s Eyes
I don't have anything to write for you but I wanted to tell you that it is a great idea! I wish my mom would have given my sisters and I better role models as well as better ways to have good self esteem.
I'm in!
I absolutely love this idea! I have two daughters of my own and one little granddaughter. I think you can make difference for sure! I did a fun post on swimsuit phobia a few years back thestylesisters.blogspot.com/2008/08/swimsuit-phobia.html check it out.
I am in, so tell me what to do next
I love this – count me in! What a great idea!!!
What a WONDERFUL Idea! I would love to participate, because I think this is a problem that all young women including myself deal with. I think this would not only be great for your daughters, but great for all women to read. Especially a college student like me.
what a wonderful project!
what a wonderful endeavor, it will be wonderful, I can just see it! Great idea, I'll give it a few shout outs!
and, I loved your post, you have a way with making beautiful word pictures.
I am in as well. What's next? 🙂
I'd love to be a part of this wonderful endeavor! Please contact me!
I'm in!
Love the idea. Very inspiring. I'm in 🙂
Reading this through tears, as I've thought about my stupid stress level with hosting a jewelry party and my barking at my kids.
What a fabulous idea. FABULOUS!
Count me in…
I LOVE this idea! Count me in!! 🙂 I just tweeted about it along with Mama M!
I'd love to do it!!
P.S. What is the timeframe? When do you need our post on our own blog and the letter sent to you?
What a beautiful family, lovely blog, and wonderful idea!
I would love to be involved. What should I do next.
familyvolley.blogspot.com
I would love to be involved! My daughter too is having trouble with the pressure society puts on women of today. Its sad, at 8 she feels this way. SO I am in!!!! This is great!
TELL ME MORE!
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What a wonderful project. I have four little girls who are all still little enough to say, "I know" when I tell them how beautiful they are, but I would love for them to have a real role model to look to as they grow up!
What a fantastic project:) Count me in!
I have a hair blog for doing my dd's hair. You can use me. I also have 4 Girls.
also that song is one of my favorites my mom dedicated it to me when she died.
Oh.My.Gosh. This is SUCH a GREAT idea!!! Count me in!! I'll start working on it tomorrow!
That is so sweet!
I would love to do it, especially since I had 4 boys before I got my girl 😉
I love this and I want to participate.. I just have to think of what to write. Of course I would like to include my only daughter of 6 children…
Will pray, and think, and then come back!
Angie
A very beautiful idea! I will pray about it and see what I come up with.
Blessings to you.
What a great idea! I would be willing to share my story! My email is lesliebullock7[at]hotmail.com I also have a personal blog over at jasonnleslie.blogspot.com
Amazing idea. Count me in! I'm clicking for more information now.
I love this idea — saw your invitation to it on blogfrog. I'm sorry I didn't comment earlier on my visit — I was having computer issues.
Thanks for visiting Sugar Tails. I wanted to come back and try again. 🙂 Glad I did!
This is a beautiful idea. I have two boys (10 & 7), and we were blessed with a princess last year. She has changed the way I think about many things . . .
What a great idea…I'm in!
Nikki xx
Janae,
Yes, this is a great idea. Please know as the generations pass through we first look at our mothers and grandmothers that have gone before us, marvel at their hardships and grace and can't imagine filling their shoes. We glance for a moment at our own lives then before we know it we are looking back at the generations that follow us, our daughters, that have miraculously become greater than the generation that led us. How did we do that I ask myself? How did my daughters and nieces become the powerful, graceful, creative, inspiring, women of today? How is it they fill the shoes of my grandmother, the lady that I thought I could never become? Forget the Brittneys and the Hannahs. It is you, our daughters, that my sisters and I look to in amazement today. We can see the power of our grandmothers in you. It has passed from one generation to the next. We look back at you, our daughters, with the same reverent eyes that use to honor our mothers. Daughters and nieces, tell your daughters(and sons) they will be fine. You are right, they only need to look to you, their mothers for their strength. I can see I'm doing some ranting here but I guess you struck a nerve with me tonight as I checked in to see how you are all doing in your busy lives, usually just a silent spectator or your Facebooks and blogs. I want to share with you all a dream I had one night when I was going through a difficult time in my life, right after I found out your Uncle Ethan had ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease. I had a dream that I was sitting on my Aunt Alice's couch. Aunt Alice is Poppy's sister,(your great grandfather's sister). She use to needle point cushions for couches and by the time she had reached old age had made several. I went to visit her one day, to record her life on a tape recorder since she was the last female in our family from that generation. I remember I was amazed at all of these needle point couches that were all around her room. Anyway, fast forward to the dream. In my dream, I was sitting on one of Aunt Alice's couches in a room like the one I remembered sitting in when I interviewed her, when suddenly a pair of hands came out of the ether and stretched themselves to me. I knew they were Aunt Alice's hands. She wanted to tell me that she was there for me and that I was not alone. I will never forget that dream. Since that dream, I have never felt alone. I have know that all of the women in my family that I looked up to with such respect were really not gone. They are really always here for me, standing by to lend me their hand whenever I felt alone. That is a powerful feeling, so yes, your idea is a great one. It is important that we tell our stories so that your daughters, my sisters' grandchildren and my precious Lexie know that none of them will ever be alone. We, their grandmothers, no matter how many generations, stand as an army to protect and to cheer them on. It is also important that we let our boys know this same message, so yes, I'm in. Where do we begin? Kisses and hugs, Aunt B
I LOVE that photo of your grandmother!!!
I'm in! Can you tell me what to do next?
P.S. found you in lynnette's BlogFrog community 🙂
Blessings!
What a great idea. I am in. What's my next step?
I love this idea. Tell me what you need. 🙂
What a beautiful project, I left a comment on you instruction page that I would definately like to participate, as this is the first time I have heard about this need a few days to refelct on what I want to say.
Hi…
I've written a letter to my little Elloa, and it was a beautiful way to connect with myself. I'm having trouble sending you the note, so here is the link to my blog.
elloasworld.blogspot.com/2010/05/letter-for-little-elloa-in-my-daughters.html
Love,
Elloa xxx
P.S. Each of your daughters is utterly, incredibly BEAUTIFUL xxx
I have a GREAT story to tell, and I would love to get a wonderful picture for you… of my scars. They are where my true beauty lies. Do you want it emailed,or shall I just post it on my blog?
themykytiukfiles.blogspot.org
I am in! Great idea.
Please let me know what is next!
I am very interested if you still need participants. Will you email me all the details please. My email is rudyrukus[at]gmail.com
I love being a woman and want to leave a legacy for my daughter similar to what you are referring to. I lost my father at 11 unexpectedly and I want her to have my words and stories even if I live to be 100.
After my Nanny gave us her autobiography, I was so touched to learn particularly about her growing up years. She inspired me to start a new blog called MommysPiggyTALES.com.
The idea is for moms to link up once a week for 15 weeks starting June 10 and start recording stories of their youth starting with the day they were born and ending with a post high school post. Vlogging is okay too.
I think a few recorded childhood memories of you would be a priceless gift to your children and others and help them understand more about who you are.
Do they know what growing up was like for their grandma? My Nanny had a pet goat.
I hope your project goes well and what a gift to your girls!