Dear Baby, Please Ignore The Following...

Health, beauty and fashion trends I hope my daughter ignores.

I've been taking Elyse, my 6 month old daughter, along with me to fashion and beauty events in Toronto recently. Aside from the comments that she is mega cute (duh) I usually hear cute jokes and ideas/suggestions for her to one day become a fashion blogger, or for her to pursue a job in the fashion industry. While that is all great, and I would love for her to inherit my love for design and fashion, I am also growing weary. Mainly I worry that as she gets older and enters her teenage years she will feel pressured to dress and look a certain way. Also, with the way social media is steadily taking over I worry the bombardment of negative messages out there will eventually get to her. 

Make sure to always be tanned. Be thin, in fact - "thigh gap" is sexy (maybe if you like having the body of a 12 year old). Share every little thing you do on Instagram, Vine, Facebook, Twitter etc, aim for celebrity status in life. Everything you own must be designer and must be the "IT" item everyone else already has.That is just a minuscule list of the messages my daughter's generation will be exposed to through social media. 

So while she still cant stand without my support I have begun to think like her generation may think in the near future, and I have compiled a list of health, fashion and beauty messages I pray she is smart enough to ignore (after being raised properly, taught better by myself and her dad).

1. Pile on Makeup! 
Contouring, contouring and more contouring. During the day of course, every day, all day. You must wear a full face of makeup at all times, if Kim Kardashian (formerly West, cuz yeah they would have split up by the time Elyse is a teen) does it so should you! You have to hide every blemish and camouflage every spot every-single-day.I want to clarify that I don't have anything against makeup in general. I am the worst makeup hoarder I think its fun and its such a treat to get my makeup professionally done for special occasions. What I'm NOT a fan of is teens under 16 wearing makeup, pressure to look like someone other than yourself, and feeling like you have to hide your skin under a mountain of concealer and foundation if your skin is less than perfect (who has PERFECT skin, really?).

2 "Get That Summer Glow" 
Cause you know, sun tans are sexy. NOT! Please Elyse don't ever step foot into a tanning bed. I speak from experience here, my biggest health regret is ever tanning in a tanning bed and going outside sans sun block.  I know a thing or two about being pasty. I wrote the book on being Casper. Back in high school I hated being so pale and tanning was my bright idea for a solution. Regret, regret, regret. At the time everyone else was doing it...ughh!

3 Skinny Obsession
Are you ready for Bikini season? Personally I dont think I honestly ever have been, lol. Obviously weight and body image is a huge issue with teens today. They are brainwashed by peers and social media that they have to be skinny to be happy. Also from experience, in my lifetime I've weighed 102 pounds AND in the weeks before I gave birth I weighed 198 pounds (yup, some brutal honesty for you here) I have to say I was much happier when I was not giving a crap about my waist line. I hope my daughter never feels pressure to be unhealthy skinny or to follow an unhealthy fad diet. 

4 Monkey See Monkey Do
You should your best to blend in with the other girls your age, try not to be weird. I take serious offense to this one because God am I ever weird. But it took awhile. In high school I loved dressing like everyone else. I wish I had discovered myself a bit earlier and not continued that into undergrad. It wants until I moved away to the UK that I developed my own personal style. Trying to look just like everyone else is exhausting, same bag, same hair cut (or same long hair), same clothes...ZZZZZ!

5. "You dont need a man!"
I may get into shit with the feminists for this one, but I'm going to be completely honest.  #BossBabes #MomBoss, its all good, I support it but there's a point where I believe we loose a bit of our femininity when there is such a strong emphasis on not needing a man, not having to dress like a woman, not having to listen to men etc etc. For example since becoming a mother the vibe I'm getting is that these days being a stay at home mom is frowned upon. Woman are guilt-tripped into going back to work even if they may not want to. My one goal in life was to have kids and raise them. That's just me, my choice. Please dont shame me for being "oh fashioned". Honesty bomb -> sometimes I just want to say, stop trying to be so bad ass and just chill. That's not to insult anyone. If you're a hot-ass Mom boss or an independent lady all the power to you but I honestly feel like I am being bombarded lately with this msg. I kinda am yearning for a more soft and gentle approach to life. Like what about #HappyCouplePower or #HusbandWifeTeam. Or even better #ILetMyHusbandSpoilMeCauseIDeserveIt, yeah!

6. Celeb Status Obsession
Followers, likes and popularity define your worth. Social media today has become so powerful, so giant, and only ten years ago I cant even remember even hearing the term "social media". Just imagine what it will be like when my daughter is 16. I love Instagram I am not going to hide that, but I'm 32 years old. I know what to post and what not to post, and I sure as hell don't cry when someone unfollows me. I truthfully will try to keep Instagram and Facebook out of my daughter's hands until she is 17 years old, and even then I will be weary. 

So there you have it, those are my health, beauty and fashion concerns for our next generation. Do you have any of your own. Even if you are not a parent, is there anything out there you roll your eyes at? Feel free to share in the comments below. 

p.s the opening picture was snapped by my beautiful, intelligent and talented blogger, vlogger, and all around amazing friend, check out her site here www.elaishajade.com