I’m excited to share a guest post by Kim from Beauty And The Bump with you guys.
Being a mom to a little girl is a blessing. I have always wanted a “mini me” to spend time with to do all of the girly things that I like doing, and my six-year old is just that. She looks like me and wants to do everything I do including putting on makeup and wearing my heels. It is the time we share doing things together that will help facilitate the creation of a strong mother-daughter bond. There is nothing more that I want than having a close relationship with my daughter where she is able to come to me about anything. I strongly believe that moms and daughters, at any age, should have time specifically set aside to have fun together, listen to each other and get to know each other. This can be accomplished by having routinely scheduled mother-daughter bonding activities like the ones listed below.
Girl Time
My daughter is such a girly girl. One of her favorite mother-daughter bonding activities is when we have what she likes to call “girl time.” This is when I am usually painting her nails in five different colors that she’s picked out the previous day, while we watch one of her favorite television shows on her tablet together.
Hair Wash Days
Hair wash days is the perfect mother-daughter bonding activity, especially in a black household because we know that hair washing can be an all-day thing. At 6-years-old, my daughter already has an opinion about the way she wants her hair to look. We chat about her curl pattern, and I let her know that her hair is beautiful the way it is because it is important for her to grow up loving herself and what God gave her. What better way to do that than when washing and braiding her hair?
Lunch Dates
I work full-time at a job that does not offer as much flexibility as my husband’s. He gets to meet our daughter for lunch, pick her up to and from school, where I am more like the absentee parent. Then mommy guilt sets in. During the weekends, after her activities, we head out to one of her favorite places: Shake Shack. A one-on-one meal is a perfect time to get her to open up about what is happening at school and aftercare, and more.
Get Active
Moms are their daughter’s first example of what having good self-esteem and body image is about. At six-years old, a very impressionable age, it is important for my daughter to see me put myself first by taking care of myself. Whether it means making healthier food choices or working out, simply making the effort to take care of myself sends a big message that I believe I am worth the effort, and hopefully, she will learn that she is too. Taking walks together is a mother-daughter bonding activity we do until the weather freezes up, and then I would whip out my Jillian Michaels DVD, which my daughter would try and do some of the workout moves with me too.
Get Creative in the Kitchen
My daughter is now at the stage where she wants to experiment with recipes. Some she has made up completely in her head like this strawberry and cinnamon “cookie” concoction she just made last week. Cooking up something new can be fun and exciting, or in my case scary lol. However, it also allows my daughter to showcase her creativity while learning things about health and nutrition, even math and science. The best part about it is, we get to have a good time doing it.
Do Something She Enjoys Doing
Like most kids these days, my daughter is obsessed with YouTube. It all started with her watching me do my makeup tutorials in my beauty blogging days, and then it progressed to things like Kinder Egg Surprise videos. Eventually, she wanted to make her own, which turned into the perfect mother-daughter bonding activity. Since I do not like her image all over the internet, I had to meet her in the middle. I agreed that she can make videos on my phone, and sometimes I have even setup my lights and my real camera for her to record, but we do not share them on YouTube. This way, we both get what we want – me her privacy, and her a “YouTube” video. Even though she has thrown her little six-year old shade by telling me “You’re just a blogger”, statements like that along with her actions prove to me that she is always paying attention to the moves that I make and in her own way, admires what I do.
I enjoy having my daughter see me as her role model. It is fun watching her grow into her own. I love that she likes spending time with me trying to copy what I do. I believe the relationship between a mother and daughter is a special one; mothers are their daughter’s first role models. What we do from the time they take their first breath and even into adulthood can shape who they become and how they feel about themselves as young women.
Mother-daughter bonding activities play an important part in this so make sure you make time for your daughter(s) it will truly pay off later.
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About the Author
Kim is a full-time working mom and wife with one spunky six-year old daughter. She is the owner of Beauty and the Bump a mommy blog that captures her life as a mom and wife who loves to travel. Mom blogging, however, was not her first romp in the blogging world. Kim started off showcasing her makeup artistry skills and tips, and beauty product reviews on her other website, Makeup by Kim Porter. Through both, Kim offers a wealth of knowledge on beauty, parenting, and travel.
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I love how many of your suggestions were practical things that any mom can do. I especially love the hair wash days. So cool!
Thank you. There are times when I get home from work and I am too tired for anything else, but I still try and give her some of my time. Weekends I am usually all hers. She looks forward to our girl time.