I  have to admit that one of the things I worry about having a daughter is whether I'm teaching her proper values (okay, and maybe whether she'll fare well in the world outside of our home).  With Little One starting Junior Kindergarten this coming Fall, my anxiety level is through the roof.

Maybe I worry too much, but I won't lie in saying I have concerns.

• Sometimes children are unkind
• Peer pressure can start at a young age
• Not everyone is as kind, loving, compassionate, understanding, open-minded, or thoughtful as Little One is
• Girls can be catty and competitive (boys can be competitive, but not in the same way as girls). Girls can be pretty brutal to each other

 Little One is 3 years old, and absolutely loves listening to me read the Papersalt books to her. She made me read "being a girl" FOUR times in one sitting. This is a fabulous book to read to girls when they are young and up to when they become teenagers. Many lessons (doing the right thing for others, saying sorry when you need to, not giving in to peer pressure, being confident, telling Mom you love her, etc...) can be learned from this book. Just reading it again and again, as per Little One's request, had her reciting back to me many of the 'lessons' in the book.

Many things I even forget about have come up in the book. For example: "Stick up for people when needed. If they're nice and need your help, or if they're doing the right thing and other's don't appreciate it" and "The internet is amazing. It is not always truthful."

"We Do"  (Things the family stands for) is a book that I think all families should have. Lessons like "We do sorry. We apologize. We admit we're wrong. We practice humility" are very important things to teach children. The book is filled with lots of lovely things parents and children should share. One of my favourites is "We do quality time. We turn things off, put things down, pay attention to each other."  I admit, this is one of the ones my three year old has to constantly remind me of. She comes to my home office and tells me I need to stop working for a while or turn off my BlackBerry. The book is a breath of fresh air and brings us back to our main reason for being here in the first place: FAMILY. It's a great reminder of what families stand for. You can also add things to the book, like photos, notes, etc...