Ummm….I Dunnno

An American teenage tragedy is the inability for a young girl to make a choice. In our society we are inendated with choices. There are five thousand ways to order a cup of coffee, 100,000 thousand different slushy choices at Sonic, 200 options in toothpaste. But somehow, the ability for young girls to be sure of what they like or don’t like is increasingly prevalent.

My daughters and their friends would rather me wear my leg warmers from the 80′s a belt out a Debbie Gibson hit while playin with my rhythm ribbon than listen to my “I Don’t Know Girl” lecture. An “I Don’t Know Girl” is a young lady who lacks the ability to make a decision with confidence. Her answer to every question is, “I don’t know,” or “I don’t care.”

The decisions faced aren’t difficult. Simple things like:

What do you want to eat?
What movie sounds good?
How do you like your pizza?

Which the answers are normally something like:

It doesn’t matter.
I don’t know.
Whatever, I don’t care.

I know it is seemingly insignificant, but to me, every simple decision a girl can make with confidence will lead to bigger, more important choices made with confidence. A girl can learn to have confidence in her decisions by making them. It requires them to step out on a limb, believing in themselves and what they like or don’t like has value.

Do you experience your tweens and teens becoming “IDK Girls” ? How do you encourage confidence in your kids?