I stumbled upon HELL on the internet...

...and now I'm sharing it with you.

Can you even imagine saving up your tooth fairy money to get breast implants? An 11 year old who won't eat bread because carbs make you fat? (Don't they live on peanut butter & jelly sandwiches?) Or a 10 year old that owns more lip gloss than me (at 31) has ever owned?
Ok...the last part might be an exaggeration...I have actually counted 10 lip glosses in one purse alone. And, NO! It's not an addiction! I just like the sticky, wet stuff on my lips. (I'm talking about lip gloss you perverts! Although...).

I digress...

I read an article (which I've hyper-linked below) about tween girls who act more like 20-somethings than their 10 year old bodies actually are. And more disturbing is the fact that a large percentage of girls start puberty before they are even 10!

I know I've touched on this before but-what the hell? It's funny because, as I read the article, all I could think was 'STUPID PARENTS!' You are enabling your kids to be this way and not reassuring them that it IS ok to be a kid.
It's ok to have dirt on your face (under your nails, in between your toes...etc).
It's ok to eat ice cream sandwiches (they're SUPPOSED to have the metabolisms to work it off running later).
It's ok to let your hair dry naturally (the last time I used a blow dryer-probably the year 2002).
It's ok to not match your clothing (although, still a pet peeve of mine-ask Lex, she hates me for it. No, just because it's also a pink color does NOT mean it matches).
It's ok to want a water gun instead of the newest Cosmo girl magazine at the store.
It's ok to not wait the exact 2 minutes before rinsing out your conditioner in the shower.
It's ok to play.
It's ok to want to visit Build A Bear and not the Aldo store in the mall.

As my 9 year old rushes upon puberty age, I've been thinking more often about what I have in store for me. At the beginning of her 4th grade year, I noticed some 5th graders wearing eyeshadow and eyeliner (badly, I might add). I freaked just a little.
I guess my only reprieve is that I actually CAN apply makeup fairly well and I'll make sure that Lex knows the correct technique, colors and amounts to wear if and when she starts doing so.

But even just last night she said to me 'Mom, you're more of a girly-girl and I'm not. Can you paint my fingernails blue?'
*hoping the blue polish means she's not quite mature enough to understand that she's 'primping'*

Rise of the Child Women.