Think Beyond Pink
We’ve all heard the legendary tales of boys and their stinky socks, broken windows, snakes, and other outdoors-only wildlife loose in the house… And believe me, we mamas-of-just-girls know how good we have it.
In our world, we have tea parties! Shopping partners! Pretty hair to fix! Shrieking! Fighting over clothes—er, okay, so maybe there are a few downsides to having only girls. And truth be told, girl socks can be stinky, too.
We live in a world that happily hands us stereotypes at every turn, but savvy mamas know that stereotypes are made to be broken—at least sometimes. Successfully navigating stereotypes might be one of the trickier aspects of mothering girls, but with an open mind and a sense of humor, it can be done with panache. (And as with all girls, we have panache to spare!)
What Happened to Pink?
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Supplies: patterned paper (American Crafts, Kaiser) • letter stickers, brads (American Crafts) • journaling stamp (Fontwerks) • question mark die-cut (source unknown) • corner rounder (EK Success) • 8½ x 11 page by Nicole Southworth |
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Australian scrapbooker Nicole Southworth has three girls, and she’s still coming to terms with her formerly-pink and frilly daughters turning in their girly-girl clothes for black, grey, and grunge. Once reserved for musicians in the American Pacific Northwest, grunge has crept into the closet of many a girl throughout the world, along with the confidence to shape one’s image instead of bowing to age-old stereotypes about what a girl should wear.
Tip: Gather your girls together for a picture from time to time so they can look back at their relationship as sisters in addition to pictures of their individual growth!
Too Powerful to Resist
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Supplies: patterned paper (WeRMemory Keepers, Sassafras) • stickers (American Crafts, WeRMemory Keepers, My Mind’s Eye) • chipboard, brads (American Crafts) • embroidery floss (Bazzill Basics) • punch (Creative Memories) • 12 x 12 page by Lisa Kisch |
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Lisa Kisch suffers from the opposite problem: no matter how hard she’s tried to keep her girls from stereotypical Girl Things, the more the stereotypical Girl Things have infiltrated her home. It’s not easy to resist the Disney Princess empire, as so many mamas-to-girls know! What’s curious to Lisa, however, is the inherent love for all things girly in her daughters. When it comes to nature vs. nurture, there are no easy answers.
Tip: Don’t forget to record your own thoughts about parenting girls; so much of parenting is about the action of day-to-day life, but your own values, beliefs, and ponderings deserve a place in your scrapbooks, too.
What Kind of Girl Do You Have?
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Supplies: patterned paper (October Afternoon, Scenic Route) • pennant triangles, bookplate paper (The Girls’ Paperie) • corrugated letter (Making Memories) • letter stickers (Sassafras) • baker’s twine • bookplate and heart punches (EK Success) • 12 x 12 layout by Elizabeth Dillow |
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My husband and I work very hard to avoid categorizing our girls’ activities into girl- and boy-interests. I don’t make a big deal out of worms being icky (even if they are, ICK!) and Matt tries to include them in fix-it projects around the house as a matter of course. It’s important to us that our girls grow up believing that worms and tools are just as normal as dolls and dresses!
Tip: Sometimes it’s OK to skip the details of a photograph and focus on the big picture. The context of this photo is definitely worth documenting (we were waiting for a cattle drive to begin!) but the larger significance—what it means to be a girl for our Maddie—won out on this day.
More Than a Princess
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Supplies: patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket) • stickers (October Afternoon, EK Success) • rub-ons (Autumn Leaves) • ticket (Studio Calico) • chipboard (Creative Imaginations) • font (Rockwell Sketch) • 12 x 12 layout by Elizabeth Dillow |
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Sometimes the only thing you can do with a stereotype is treat it with a sense of humor. I grow weary of the implication that all girls want to grow up to be princesses; when I saw the “girls will be princesses, boys will be superheroes” product in a catalog, I shook my head until I realized I had just the pictures to challenge that stereotype. More than anything, I want my girls to grow up knowing that they have choices—that aspiring to superhero-dom is as legitimate a decision as developing one’s princess skill set.
Tip: If you have a lot of photos from a particular event, it’s fun to select action shots in chronological order but with different subjects to illustrate each step of the way.
When it comes down to it, raising girls might not be better than raising boys, but it sure is different. We’re just lucky that scrapbooking provides the unique opportunity to capture all the wonder, challenge, and humor of mothering girls—tiara, toolbelt, and all.
Coming Soon
Whether your girl twirls around happily inside traditional gender roles or demolishes them on her way to the baseball field, she is a unique and multi-faceted individual. Make sure you’re capturing all sides of her personality in your scrapbooks! Need help? Get your copy of Ella’s Essential Guide to Scrapbooking Girls! This must-have guidebook offers gorgeous layouts, helpful tips, quick quizzes, and invaluable insights from five moms who have 13 daughters among them—and not a single son.
(Moms of boys, don't despair; we've also got Ella's Essential Guide to Scrapbooking Boys just for you.)