Leading our Girlology program, Something New About You, always inspires and energizes me. In fact, my resolutions for this new year, come from some of the advice we give 4th and 5th grade girls, and the wisdom they share with us.

There’s nothing like a room full of 9 year old girls to make you laugh, think, and feel good about how we really can just all get along and have fun together (at least for a while). It’s a beautiful age, full of wonder, silliness, sincerity, and mind-blowing potential.

Our newest graphic pays tribute to what we’ve learned from the girls and what we hope the girls take from our program. And though we’ve made this for the girls, we’ve found a lot of moms, sisters, grandmothers, and friends that connect with it, too.

For more information about our programs visit our Events page. The backpack is a gift from us to the girls who attend our Something New About You workshop. Wishing you a giggly, fun, awe-filled and healthy new year.

Lucky you.  9 is a magical age where girls are growing up and can understand some “adult-ish” things, but are young enough to still have that innocent sense of wonder and awe.  Unfortunately, it’s also the age (4^th grade is notorious for this) where some kid in her class has already provided their interpretation of what “sex” is – right or wrong.  That means it’s the perfect time to set the record straight and take the opportunity to interject your family values.

So this weekend, my oldest daughter who is nine and I were driving to her soccer game.  Beautiful weather, windows down, hair flying and just enjoying the day.  Well Katy Perry’s song, “Teenage Dream” comes on the radio and my daughter who really can’t follow a tune started belting out…”Let’s go all the way tonight, No regrets, just love. We can dance until we die.  You and I, we’ll be young forever.” 

Dr. Holmes was invited to be a guest blogger on the MUSC Women’s Health blog, Women Speak. Here’s what she said about talking with kids about sex:

For so many parents, telling a child about sex is about as welcome as head lice.  How do I start?  Isn’t the school covering this?  When is the right age?  No need to panic.  Just try to get to them before their friends do. And today, that means by age 8 or 9 (are you panicking?).  Really.

I’m not talking about man-boobs, although there’s plenty to blog about there.  But I have to share a story about my husband, a girlology dad.. First of all, let me say that both of the Girlology husbands(dad’s)  are very girl-oriented…er, girl focused…girl centric…girl crazy!  They can talk breasts, hair management, tampons and periods with the best of us.  Being married to us makes that a requirement.  But Michael, my husband out did himself on this one.

The transitions are amazing.  That’s what keeps us so passionate and excited about offering Girlology’s mom-daughter programs.

When a 9 or 10 year old girl walks into a Girlology Something New About You program, there’s often a downward stare and I-don’t-wanna-talk-about-this written all over her face.  The moms are typically jovial but a little nervous themselves.  Talking about puberty and periods with our doll-playing, dirt-digging, recess-loving, cuddly little girls just does that.

Every year, I seem to get at least one phone call from a panic-stricken mom with a child in the fourth grade. It usually goes something like this (in a flustered whisper), "Help!! My precious, innocent little [insert child's name] just came home from school and told me that one of her friends told her what sex is. When I asked her what she was told, her description included words like 'under the sheets,' 'wiggling,' and 'poking.' She seems upset and scared. Now what do I do?!?!"