Monday Memories - Mentoring Moments part 1

Picture from our recent picnic breakfast on May 7, 2020

Taken from a post originally published on September 22, 2008.  

This past Saturday morning was a long time in the making.


Ever since I first held that tiny newborn little baby with a pink-ribboned hat, I knew I had a special task in raising my daughter. At a certain age, boys tend to follow their dads around more and enjoy the tools and power toys, whereas girls fall more under my domain for a longer time, and in a deeper way. Not that I have any less responsibility to raise
my sons, but definitely a different one.


With my daughters I have more knowledge to pass along, more life experience to share, more mentoring to do. As much as I love to play catch with my son and wrap up each day chatting about the day's events, I have a different role with my daughters, at least at times.

I have long wanted to pick a time to spend one-on-one with each child, but have given up at times when it seemed too hard to keep up with. When my oldest daughter celebrated her ninth birthday this past summer she wanted to go ice skating with just me for her birthday gift. We had an amazing time, and she talked the whole time! I realized that now was the time, capturing this moment, this age, this openness and love.


I heard Shelley Noonan speak at a homeschool convention about mentoring daughters and again felt that longing to set up this type of time with my daughters. I didn't know how to fit it into the schedule though. This summer as my daughter reached her ninth birthday, and with her birthday request ringing in my ears, I realized I needed to make this happen now.


This past Saturday provided us with a special "first" time together. We had about 30 minutes to use up in between her soccer pictures and her game. So, we snuck away to Panera and capitalized on a gift card I had stored away for a special occasion and the rare alone time we had just then.


We had a great time, just talking and laughing and enjoying a special treat together. We also read the first chapter of the Beautiful Girlhood book together and talked about the joy of childhood merging with the responsibility of maturity in the years to come. We talked about the joy of the age she is at right now. I think it released me as well to realize that we do still have a lot of years ahead of us, and she can still enjoy just enjoying childhood for a bit yet, even as she inches closer to adolescence.

Shelley Noonan's company, sells the Beyond Beautiful Girlhood book as well as the Companion Guide to Beautiful Girlhood which offers great questions and Scriptures to supplement an already excellent book, Beautiful Girlhood. I didn't bring the companion guide with me this time, but I am excited about covering these additional questions and topics this coming Saturday. There are a few books geared toward mentoring daughters of various ages on their website. Christian Book Distributors also sells the Beautiful Girlhood book, and for a dollar less, but not the companion guide. I'm sure that you can mentor your daughters well without these resources, but the key is doing it intentionally. That's where I had to start.


Now that we have started, we are both excited to continue. Before I did not know how to find the time, and now I realize that we can have a little "tea time" with just the two of us right at home almost any time throughout the week. I can always, well almost always, spare 30 minutes to grow that relationship.

So, Saturday morning it is.

Tea in the school room, just the two of us.

I started tea time almost 12 years ago now and have enjoy a sporadic tea time with one or more girls now and then over the years. It wasn't always the consistent, weekly event I hoped for, but it was always there to pull out now and then. The boys have added their own "hot chocolate night" version, but girls are not generally welcome there. It truly does not take much to create special memories and open a door of conversation. Such a treasure.