Quote:

I felt like I was watching a "cop" show or soap opera, it was so unreal.

How do we teach our daughters? We talk about it. We tell them how valuable they are. We stop telling them that they are only hear to serve a man and that they are incomplete without a man. We teach them to earn their own living. We tell them to wait to have children with a man. We teach them the warning signs. And we live our own lives with dignity and respect for ourselves. We don't put up with this stuff in our own lives -- at any level.

O.K. Off of soapbox...



In raising assertive daughters with street smarts but who are non-violent themselves, wouldn't that almost mean in a way, allowing your daughter to occasioanlly disagree with you...speak up and engage in thoughtful, discussions.

Helps for daughters need to be shown how to negotiate and discuss issues effectively in a way that makes their minds more objective about major decisions that can affect their lives. That their opinion is respected in a lengthy discussion with parent(s). also they can observe in their own parents' marriage examples of careful, good deep discussion between parents who are trying to make good decisions (about anything). I've often wondered about abusive /non-communicative marriages and what children are missing out in their up-close understanding of adult collaborative discussion.

Above all, encouraging daughters to live indepdendently and financially, for part of their lives...is a good thing. It makes them/anyone less afraid of life ...alone.

That profound need to have a man/constant companion for every stage of their life, becomes not so paramount, critical to their self-esteem/personal security/comfort.
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