Your little girl will be a woman soon

Children today are exposed to things so different from the things most of my readers grew up with. It's hard for many people to understand how life has changed so much when it looks so similar on the outside. One only has to look at the falling age in the onset of puberty to understand why children today are so much more mature than we were. Although the body develops so much sooner, there is still a lot to be learned by our daughters before we can assume that they are women indeed.

The LA Times reports: "Some parents and activists suspect environmental chemicals [for the early onset of puberty]. Most pediatricians and endocrinologists say that, though they have suspicions about the environment, the only scientific evidence points to the obesity epidemic. What's clear, however, is that the elements of female maturity increasingly are spacing themselves out over months, even years -- and no one quite knows why."

When I was a teenager in the 90's there was already a lot of peer pressure and when two of my friends fell pregnant in Std.9, it was no big deal as teen pregnancies were no longer a taboo subject. Girls were proud of the fact that they got drunk the night before and competed about how promiscuous they were. I was never a follower of trends and therefore I managed to withstand the peer-pressure.

Often, when a girl starts looking for her place in life sooner than the other girls, she sticks out like a sore thumb. This was the case with me and led to a whole new set of problems. Bullying, self-esteem issues, trying to fit in without compromising your core-values... it's a lot for anyone to handle, never mind a young girl who didn't fit in.

Finally, fresh out of school I thought that I now had freedom from the ghosts that haunted me as a school-girl, but I faced more adversity. Much soul-searching and reading many books on the topic, taught me how to cope and more importantly, how to move on.

Although I am no longer that young girl, I am still saddened by girls who throw their lives away in pursuit of happiness and acceptance. That is what inspired me to write my book "If I could turn back time - by Lizette Balsdon" for girls aged 12 - 25 about coping and making informed decisions about life, careers, sex, relationships and spirituality.

Every decision we make, no matter how small, affects our future. By making informed decisions, we can influence our future positively. Even if you have made wrong decisions in the past, you can turn it around for the better.

Mothers are responsible for not repeating our mistakes in our daughters. We need to help our daughters to make the right decisions, teach them good values and help them to become successful, happy young women. This process starts long before they become women.