FREE! Daughters Community Forum
Share your concerns and advice about the challenges of raising a daughter with other parents and experts. The topics range from cliques to body issues to dating.

Individual articles to download for $2.49 each

January/February 2007

Nourishing her touch hunger by Drs. Melisa Holmes and Trish Hutchinson
For most parents, there’s a “whoa” that springs from your gut the first time you see your daughter comfortably leaning into a boy’s embrace and overhear your younger daughter giggling about what she’d like to do alone with a “crush.” While it’s only natural to shift into protective mode, we need to consider that all girls (and boys) have touch hunger; our job is to help her channel that hunger into activities that aren’t risky or premature. Here’s how to handle the hunger, including advice on father-daughter affection.

March/April 2006

Too young for a boyfriend?
These days, girls are apt to express interest in having a dating relationship even before middle school. Our experts give advice on how to guide girls toward healthy choices as they learn to navigate romantic urges as well as cultural pressures to act older than they are.

January/February 2006

Interview: Nathalie Bartle on talking about sex
Talking with our daughters about sexual behavior and beliefs is one of the most difficult challenges of parenting, says Nathalie Bartle, author of Venus in Blue Jeans: Why Mothers and Daughters Need to Talk about Sex. But we owe our girls direction in times when surveys report sexual activity at ever younger ages. Learn how to talk to help guide girls to better choices.

July/August 2005

Boy-bashing Doesn’t Help Our Girls by Elizabeth Larsen
Clothes and accessories with boy-bashing slogans such as “boys are stupid—throw rocks at them” are flying off the shelves and into our girls’ closets. But putting down boys does nothing to give girls equal access and opportunity, writes this mom of two boys and a girl.

May/June 2003

Interview: Vicki Crompton on Abusive Relationships
A mother whose daughter was killed by an abusive boyfriend turned her grief toward a worthy goal: educating others about the dangers of dating abuse.

March/April 2003

Is She too Young to Date? by Michelle Leise
If you have a daughter who’s 13 or 14 years old, you may have prepared yourself for her increased interest in hair, clothes, and even boys. But if she comes home and asks to go on a date, you might be surprised—even flabbergasted. During these years, your daughter is just learning who she is and what she stands for, and because dating brings up issues involving sexuality, self-confidence, and independence, most experts agree it’s too early to begin that ritual.