What I'm Reading Now...

It all started with an apron.  An innocent project for Lovey's cousin's little girl who was turning four.  She loves eating cupcakes and she loves baking cupcakes and she's very girly.  Wouldn't it be fun to make a sweet, girly apron that she could wear baking with her mom?

And so I found some fabric.  Pink, of course!  With cupcakes, and some coordinating fabric for the back -- ribbons and ruffles and the whole 9 yards.  (it turned out pretty good, thanks for asking...).  And then I went a little crazy... found a cute box to mail it in - complete with a Disney princess theme.  AND I even found these cute little cupcake lip gloss containers - different colors and different flavors.  SO CUTE!  They matched the apron theme perfectly.  I was so. excited.  I mailed the package off and felt quite proud of myself.

And then I came across a review for the new book "Cinderella Ate My Daughter."  Turns out maybe I shouldn't be so proud.  Turns out maybe I just bought into every stereotype out there about little girls.  And maybe I have a thing or two to learn.  Why is it that everything is PINK for girls?  With cupcakes?  And why is there an entire market for Disney princess dresses?  What sort of a message does this over-emphasis on looks send to our tiny little people?  Shouldn't the message be less about what they look like and more about who they are? And why are we encouraging our little girls to grow up so fast with high heels, and "Britney Spears" clothes and make up?

I mean, really.  Who sends a four year old LIP GLOSS for a birthday present?  Yeah.  That would be me.

While I have not yet ordered my own copy of "Cinderella Ate My Daughter", It will be in the cycle of the next few books I read.  The title is compelling. ( And the cover is pink.  I'm kidding... I won't be  reading it because the cover is pink.)  I'll be reading it because I believe it will give me insights into children - and while I do not have a daughter - I do have little girls in my life who I care about.  And my son will be interacting with little girls, too.  I feel it's best that I read up. Clearly I need the education.

But first - I feel like it might be best if I read up on how to be the best parent possible to my son. So I've just begun "Raising Cain:  Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys".  I'm only about a chapter in, but it's a compelling read, so far.  I have high hopes that the book will help me understand how to best allow my son to express his emotions, as well as giving me ways to protect him from other children who might not be so in tune with expressing their own emotions.   

The statistics are pretty alarming when it comes to risky behavior, car accidents, suicides, etc among boys/ young men.  I'm looking forward to insights the book might provide on how I can start understanding my son from an early age... so that we can establish and maintain positive communication throughout his childhood and adolescent years.   I want my child to be able to know I'm listening and trying to understand and meet his needs.  Yes - I realize these are high hopes for just one book... but I have faith that it will at least deliver in part.

I am also hoping that there might be a few of you out there that will interested in reading one or both of these books along with me (or in the near future) and discussing some of the concepts in them.  A virtual book-club if you will.  Hit me up if you are interested, or send along suggestions for other books that might be good (or better) choices.  Happy reading!

-bf