When my daughter, Madeline, was eleven-years-old, she asked me if she could start wearing a bra every day and shave her legs. There is something you must know about Madeline: she is built like an eight-year-old boy, flat as a board, and not a grown-up hair in sight. Most of her friends, however, have got it all: boobs, hips, and are shaving their underarms and legs. So I said, "Babe, you don't need to do any of those things. You're still a little girl!"
Her response made me sad: "I'm tired of being a little girl."
So I sat in the bathroom with my little girl and helped her shave her legs. I took this opportunity to talk about girl stuff, how everyone develops at different times, how pictures in the media aren't always realistic. We talked until her fingers were little prunes. It was actually an amazing bonding experience and one of my favourite moments with my daughter.
The next morning, she put her bra on under her pink "I love dance" t-shirt and was off to school. I had tears in my eyes when she left.
When did this happen? My little girl is now a big girl? How was I going to deal with this? Her bedroom is plastered in sparkles and bows, dance trophies, and silly pictures of her with her friends. What happens now?
When my big girl came home from school, skipping toward the door with her pony tail bouncing behind her she yelled to me, "Mom, I don't know how you wear these things! I'm never wearing a bra again!"
YESSS! Oh, I love my little girl!
It's been a year since then. She still hasn't picked up a razor again, and I can't tell you which drawer that bra is stuffed into.
How fitting that Madeline, now twleve-years-old has been cast in the film "Big Little Girl" to play the lead role of Samantha Wallace, age ten (being a late bloomer can have its advantages). The film tells the story of Samantha who longs to be sexy just like the images she sees in the media. Madeline has just received the full script for the movie, and just reading the script has helped her come to terms with still being a little girl.
If the script alone can help my daughter, then I know the movie will help lots of little girls who want to grow up way too fast!
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