Girls 14

Want your girl to do more during her summer vacation than sit at home and become addicted to soap operas? You might think about planning a week or two at a girl’s camp. While she could learn important life lessons and has a great time at any summer camp, girls-only camps are great options for girls because the counselors at girls' camps also strive to address issues specific to girls. If your daughter is the high adventure type, she does not have to worry about missing out on anything by attending a girls' camp. There are girls-only camps for almost any activity or interest your daughter might want to pursue.

Some girls will tell you the best feature of a girls' camp is that there are only girls there, no boys. In an environment with no boys, girls feel more free to participate in any activity they choose, such as swimming, without feeling uncomfortable around the boys. They don't have to worry about boys laughing at them if they attempt an activity and don't do as well as a boy might.

In this atmosphere, girls can participate in sports such as running, basketball, archery and range shooting without having to worry about competing with the boys. Counselors at these girls-only camps can also address self-esteem issues specific to girls such as weight, dieting and attractiveness. Some parents also prefer a girls-only camp because they don't have to worry that any hanky panky will be going on during their child's week at camp.

Probably one of the most well known girls-only camps is Girl Scout Camp. These camps can be found in locations all across the United States. Unlike privately owned or family owned camps, girls who wish to attend Girl Scout camp must be an active member of the Girl Scouts. Unlike some camps your daughter could attend, Girl Scout camps are more traditional in nature. They offer a mix of the usual camp activities such as swimming, canoeing, archery and horseback riding. A week or two at Girl Scout camp is usually reasonably priced and within most families' budgets.

Girls 13

The flower girl is the bride's ambassador! While petite in size, she has a significant role in the wedding, walking down the aisle, dropping petals, preparing the way for the entrance of the bride.

Tradition holds that a girl carrying flowers should bring extra good luck to the marriage. After the bride, the flower girl is the member of the bridal party most capable of stealing the hearts of all the guests. In choosing the flower girl dress, consider the style, colour, fabric and formality of the occasion. The flower girl should not outshine the bride, but complement her gown while blending with the bridesmaids' outfits.

Although bridal styles change from season to season, flower girl fashion has changed very little. The gown is always classically "little princess" in style but in keeping with the style of ceremony - church wedding, beach wedding or garden wedding.

A flower girl's gown should complement the bride. It can be bridal white or ivory, the same colour as the bridesmaid's gowns, or a contrasting colour that complements the outfits of the entire party. If white is chosen for the flower girl’s gown, a colour sash may be used to tie it in with the colour of the bridesmaid's gowns.

Girls 12

During the cold, wintry days of February 2005, I was reflecting on my childhood and how my personal life lessons relate to the lives of today's modern girl. In a profound and brief moment of inspiration, I identified a disconnect from my sense of Self and Spirit when my esteem and overall security and well-being diminished. In my reflections, I realized that I had gone from a happy, bold, and care-free preteen to a self-conscious adolescent lacking confidence, respect, balance, and joy. But what went wrong and why? How did I so suddenly lose that vital connection to my happy and confident self? What could have kept me connected to my divine and magnificent Self and Spirit in my young life? Does this same disconnect happen to today's girls? My musings took me deeper into my childhood memories searching for clues, and for answers.

As a young child, I remember being showered with love from my family, friends, and teachers. I remember many fun, happy, and love-filled memories with my immediate and extended family. I remember, too, enjoying school, hanging out with my friends, and loving to play outside on the neighbor's property, where his horses roamed freely. All the "right" pieces were in place for me to be raised a happy, confident, and connected girl. And then I began to have flashes of a superficially angry but deeply sad girl. I flashed moments of despair and suffering, discord and discomfort. Some of these memories were so powerful that the emotions felt real, some even felt scary. There were two distinct versions of me surfacing in my memories, and I knew that the space between the two versions contained vital clues to understanding how I became so disconnected; clues that could guide me in ways to help the young girls of today stay connected to their divine Spirits.

One version I remembered of me loved herself, her life and others, while the other version judged herself harshly, ridiculed her life, and belittled others because they weren't "cool" or "in" or "popular." I soon identified the space where I lost my connection to my true Self as that very moment when I entered the often cruel and frightening realm of adolescence. What concerned me even more is that I could foresee a possible disconnect from Spirit in the marvelous preteen girls in my life who were on the edge of adolescence. My desire to relate my personal life lessons to those of the modern girl was intensifying, as was my desire to help and to make a difference in their lives. But I was not yet done digging through my past for answers.