Tweens Need Boosters! Today is National Car Seat Safety Saturday

Laws vary by state, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published guidelines for child safety for ages birth through 12. We just learned today is National Car Seat Safety Saturday, and the NHTSA wants families to check how they use car seats and booster seats and if they are installed properly. Certainly we thought we outgrew the whole car seat thing after toddler-hood, but it turns out that the guidelines are that tweens ages 8 to 12 should be in a booster seat. Seat belts-only are fine if the seat belt sits across their thighs and NOT their tummies or across their necks - 'turns out they don't work if they cross her neck. We're checking our car this weekend and may well have to deal with the wrath of the 12-year old tween who might have to return to a booster.

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Geena Davis on How Girls Are Portrayed in the Media

Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis is famous for portraying strong (both physically and emotionally) women on screen. When she became a mom, however, she was struck by the utter dearth of positive, active, and central role models for girls in movies and on television. She founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media (GDIGM) to conduct research on the issue and advocate for change in the industry. We had the opportunity to attend an event on this topic yesterday at Georgetown University's McDonogh Business School and ask Ms. Davis a few questions.

GDIGM did a comprehensive survey of the roles girls and women had in film and television. They looked at everything from the amount of screen time girls and women had, how many girls and womens were in stories, their costumes, the number of lines they had, how they were or were not stereotyped, and the like. The organization also looked at the number of women in professional positions in the industry - that is, those behind the cameras. The results of these studies, especially those on family programming, were disturbing:

• Women and girls account for less than a third of the characters in family films. Despite public perception that this has changed (oft-cited are films like Mulan and Tangled, and shows like iCarly and Hannah Montana), this figure has not changed since 1946. Surprised? We were.
• Research shows that there is a direct correlation of when more women are behind the camera, women have more screen time and account for a higher number of characters (even background ones) shown. But the industry trend on female professionals in the industry is that women in the key roles of Director, Producer, and Write are going down.
• In G-rated films, 80.5% of all working characters are male - but women comprise 50% of the workforce. Why are we shown a 1950's version of the world in 2011?
• You can view their research here.

Why does this matter to parents, especially parents of tween girls? Because:

• Even though females comprise 50% of the US population, our daughters see that men outnumber women 3-to-1 on screen. Inexplicably, only 17% of group or crowd scenes are female. As Ms. Davis said yesterday, "So if we're 51% of the population but only 17% of the crowd, where did we all go?"
• This research means that "family entertainment" isn't the safe haven we parents expect it to be. Female characters are hyper-sexualized, almost especially when animated, and in the majority of shows are there just as eye-candy. One of our favorite quotes from Ms. Davis at yesterday's session was, "The way they're drawn, there's no room for a spinal column."
• Other research GDIGM cites finds that girls who are exposed to more media have the feeling that they are fewer choices in life, and that, on average, the more media boys watch the more sexist their outlook.
• Coraline is often held up as an example of a strong female lead role. Did you know that in the book, there was no boy character and that Coraline saved herself? Hollywood put one a boy character in, and he saved her. Really??

So what can parents do? (We LOVE when there are specifics like this)

• Watch media with your tween as much as possible and discuss what you see. Ms. Davis tells of how she'll watch a show with her own tween (now 9 years old) and ask, "Why do you think she's dressed like that if she needs to go and save someone?" or "Do you think a girl could be the hero in this show as much as a boy?" Starting this dialogue will go a long way towards changing her mindset - neither you nor her have to accept what's shown.
• Make your voices heard. The good news is that because of Ms. Davis stature in the industry, GDIGM's research was been shown to a key players in it. She has been heartened by the response: that people were shocked by the study. "This means," she says, "that there's no plot to keep women out. And that's a good thing."
• Raise the consciousness about this issue. Count the number of females you see on screen. Ask about it. Because what we've seen hasn't changed since 1946, it means that we all just take it for granted. Be media-literate, and ensure that your tween is too.

GDIGM will update their research next in 2015. Let's all hope that the results show improvement.

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The 2011 Emmy Awards Through a Tween's Eyes

We watched tonight's Emmy Awards with our tweens (and wielded the remote with a heavy hand). They loved the opening clip with Jane Lynch and thought that she looked pretty in greys and silver (although we did all wish she would don at least one tracksuit, even a bedazzled one). Here are few highlights from the show from the tweens:

• "Yay - Modern Family won! I love Claire and Phil!" 
• "Sofia Vegarra is just so, so pretty  - a real movie star."
• "OMG - that's Professor McGonagall - I hope her film wins."
• "Whoa - who are those guys singing Hallelujah?" (We looked it up - they're the Canadian Tenors) 
• "Oooh - Kiernan Shipka looks SOOOOOOOOO pretty!"
• "That's so cool: they thanked the kids in Modern Family"

Did you let your tween watch the show? What did she think?

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Sewing Patterns for Tweens

Perfect for the crafty tween or the crafty mom: we stumbled upon these sewing patterns design specifically for tween girls. ModKid Boutique makes them, and their Kyoko style was the most popular for this age group. We love the idea of girls designing their own fashions, and this pattern is a terrific starting point. (And did you see our post about the Fashion School for tweens in NYC?)

Available at modkidboutique.com, $12.95

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More Back to School Fun For Tweens: Martha and Friends

Featuring a tween-age Martha Stewart, Martha and Friends is a new webisode series from Martha Stewart and AOL Kids. It's all digitally animated and includes craft instructions and recipes from each episode. The show chronicles what a group of four kids do as they wind down summer and prepare to enter middle school. All of the characters, including two french bulldogs, are sweetly illustrated, and the show is even true to Martha's legendary bossy personality. Our favorite part is the fully stocked clubhouse that most scenes take place in - it's kitted-out with every craft supply imaginable and technology features heavily - sort of a dream treehouse for tweens. This is fun viewing during the Back to School season - each episode is about 11 minutes long.

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New Sharing and Privacy Features on Facebook: What Tween Parents Need To Know

This week Facebook rolled out some new features that affect the privacy of posts and can display the location of the user. Most parents, myself included, would be concerned if their tween's location was broadcast, so here's what tween parents need to know:

• Now when you update your Wall, you can tag others who are with you or related to the post. You'll see the icon as a little person with a plus sign in the lower left corner of the status field. Earlier this year Facebook beefed up its photo tagging feature; this seems to be the next step. Facebook wants to encourage users to interact directly with each another, and when your tween is tagged by a friend in a post, she'll get a note letting her know. This sharing feature has the potential to deepen the fissures in "Girl World" (in reference to Rosalind Wiseman's excellent work on this subject) in that it will make all the more public who's hanging out with whom. As parents, we need to monitor this and keep an eye out for any shunning, exclusion, cyberbullying issues it may exacerbate.
• When you update your status you can now also add a location to your status. If your tween uses Facebook via a smartphone, this means that anyone who can view her page can see where she is in real time. This has huge safety implications, so be sure to discuss it with your tween. This feature can be turned off; you'll see an icon that looks like a map marker below the status field - right next to the tagging icon mentioned above.
• You can also now determine who can view each status update by clicking on a Friends icon in the lower right corner of the status update field. This enables you to control the privacy settings of each individual post. Before it was much more difficult to send send different messages to different Friends on Facebook, but this feature will make it easier. This is a terrific feature if you want to send messages only to Family members or to certain groups of Friends (such as her soccer team), and it will require you to assign each Friend into a category. So each time you send a post, you can determine which group can see it. One note: the label "Everyone" is now called "Public"and still means that anyone can see those posts.)

Don't forget: Facebook's stated policy is that you must be 13 years old to have a profile, but the reality is that many tweens are active on it nonetheless. In case you missed them, here are our tips for keeping your tween safe online. We encourage you to review these three new features with your tween and discuss your family's policy for using or not using them. Now is also an excellent time to check the Privacy settings you have on your Facebook account as they are ever-changing.

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Most Creative Website EVER for Tween Lunch Ideas

OMG is right! This is perfect for Back to School (thanks a ton to our friends at Chica Circle for introducing us to this): Susan Yuen is a "bento box chef" (that's my made-up term, not hers), and she writes a blog that is all about cool, uber-creative ideas for how to make kids- themed bento boxes. Bento boxes are the new lunchbox, and while everyone and their mommy blogger seems to show images of them, Susan's blog is the only one I've seen that actually gives you step-by-step instructions on how to make them. We were hooked after seeing the Phineas and Ferb-themed ones she did (thanks to eighteen25 for this story). Yes, it's a bit OCD, but the results are truly amazing.

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A Fashion School For Tweens in New York City

We thought that this find was particularly appropriate to share during New York Fashion Week: a fashion school just for kids in Manhattan (and even better, if you're just visiting New York for the day, they have one-day programs too!). The Fashion Class was started by Parsons grad Kerri Quigley as an after-school program in Manhattan. She teaches classes in clothing art and design, fashion history, and accessory design and sewing. Kids use real equipment and get to keep their creations. 'Sounds like heaven for the Project Runway -obsessed tween!

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More Tween Fashion: Target's Missoni Collection

We love the capsule collections at Target because they combine high style with a great price - perfect for outfitting your ever-growing tween.  Today, a hugely anticipated line debuts at Target: Missoni. Known for their signature zigzag colorful knits, the Italian fashion house has put together a 400-piece collection for Target. We're especially excited by these cute ballet flats. Tween fave actress Emma Roberts is also a fan - she attended the NYC pop-up opening and did some shopping of the Missoni line last week.

Available in-store only at Target.

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What's Cool For Tweens in September: MsTwixt's Calendar

• Sept 4 Tavi Gevinson's "Rookie" magazine launches
• Sept 8 Fashion's Night Out
• Sept 11 Grandparents Day
• Sept 8-15 New York Fashion Week (#NYFW)! (full schedule here)
• Sept 11 NYFW: Victoria Beckham at 10am, Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. & Harajuku Lovers at 2:30pm
• Sept 12 NYFW: Rachel Zoe at 3pm, Betsey Johnson at 6pm, Abbey Dawn by Avril Lavigne at 6pm
• Sept 13 NYFW: J.Crew at 930am
• Sept 13 Missoni for Target collection available (a must-have for tween scarves, mittens)
• Sept 13 International Chocolate Day
• Sept 14 NYFW: Gap at 5pm
• Sept 17 Sprint For A Cure Kids' 100-Yard Dash by FourSeasons
• Sept 18 "Fred the Movie" airs on Nick
• Sept 20 Material Girl's 1st Birthday Party at Macy's in NYC
• Sept 21 New American Girl dolls welcome party at American Girl DC, "Fete for Cecile and Marie-Grace"
• Sept 22 National White Chocolate Day
• Sept 23 "Dolphin Tale" opens
• Sept 24-25 National Book Festival on the National Mall
• Sept 24-25 Life is Good Music Festival
• Sept 30 "Jessie" Disney Channel premiere

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Tween Fashion Week News: Kiernan Shipka Wears MiuMiu

Tween star Kiernan Shipka, star of MadMen and Cats & Dogs among other movies, is a fantastic tween fashion icon. She always wears age appropriate fashions and dresses with flair and style. Last night at the Emmy Awards Creative Dinner she wore an outfit by MiuMiu and very sweet open-toe flats. During this New York Fashion Week, it's great to see a tween having fun with fashion.

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First Tween Malia Obama Marks 9/11 Anniversary With Community Service

First Tween Malia Obama marked the tenth anniversary of September 11th by volunteering at a local soup kitchen. She joined her father, President Obama, in preparing meals for the needy; they packaged chicken and rice gumbo at the DC Central Kitchen. Their efforts echo the call to service that spread across the country in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We think this is such a positive way to mark a difficult date.

Photo credit: Reuters

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New York Fashion Week - Designers To Watch With Your Tween

Fashion Week is in full swing in New York through Thursday, kicking off with Fashion's Night Out last Thursday (see our coverage of FNO here). Here's are the designer's shows we're watching with our tweens:

Sept 11 Victoria Beckham at 10am, Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. & Harajuku Lovers at 2:30pm

Sept 12 Rachel Zoe at 3pm, Betsey Johnson at 6pm, Abbey Dawn by Avril Lavigne at 6pm

Sept 13 J.Crew at 930am

Sept 14 Gap at 5pm

The full schedule for NYFW is here.

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We're Loving Tavi Gevinson's Magazine, Rookie

It's just a week old, but Tavi Gevinson's new magazine, Rookie, is a huge win for girls. The magazine celebrates writing and thoughts by teenage girls. Unlike her blog, Style Rookie, Rookie magazine is about much broader things than fashion - Ms. Gevinson's has said she modeled it after the Sassy magazine that yours truly grew up with.
Our favorite posts thus far are "For Those About to Rock: How to Buy Your First Electric Guitar" and "Literally The Best Thing Ever: Stickers" (which reminds us of that cool DIY sticker wallpaper we tweeted about earlier). In addition to being about all things girl, we love it's posting schedule: after school, before dinner, and during homework - which is exactly when girls write.

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Lessons Learned From a Tween's First Week of School

Back to School is a heady time for tweens, especially if they're starting middle school. As parents, we do everything we can to ease the transition and celebrate the occasion. But still, every year I learn something new about the process.
This year's lesson is about Day Two - we all focus on the first day, but there's a whole rest of the week to contend with. Our tweens handled Day One just fine - a fun breakfast, new school supplies, etc. But Day Two we awoke to find a very anxious tween at the breakfast table. It dawned on us that her anxiety may have been placated by the attention of the first day, but the anxiety resurfaces in the absence of the hype. Her nervousness around finding classrooms, making friends, re-connecting with old friends, where to sit at lunch, etc. were all still too real.  Hence, our Lessons Learned From a Tween's First Week of School:

• Schedule the familiar:  Arrange a time to hang out ("playdates" are passe for tweens) with a friend from the neighborhood afterschool. The girls can decompress with a familiar friend and do something other than think about fitting in. Plus, having a plan for what she's doing afterschool will be a convenient buffer should she hear of others' afterschool plans.
• Breakfast is still important: We make a big deal about the first day of school, but the rest of the week is as important. Consider spreading out fun breakfast ideas over the course of the first week - maybe a big pancake breakfast on the first day, yogurt parfaits on the second day, egg sandwiches on the third day, etc.
• Reach out to the new girl: Ask the new girl in class to join your tween for ice cream afterschool one day. She's likely even more nervous than your daughter, and it models the old adage: "the best way to have friends is to be one."

How did back to school go for your tween?

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Havaianas Makes Rainboots!?!

Hurricane Katia is pouring buckets up and down the East Coast, and Washington-area tweens have had a very soggy Back to School week. Rainboots were not originally on our Back to School shopping list, but they are now. While browsing the interwebs we stumbled upon these AMAZING rainboots from Havaianas. This colorway is appropriate called "Always Summer". They seem to be available only in the UK for now, but we'll keep you posted.

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Fun Tween Tradition on School Year's Eve: Schultuete

Happy Back to School! Our tweens return to school tomorrow, including one starting middle school (!). The girls aren't the ones only excited/nervous about Back to School - Mom loves the idea of starting fresh too. Readers know that the MsTwixt household celebrates every little thing, so here is one of our tweens' favorite Back to School traditions that your family might enjoy too:
Schultuetes are a German tradition of giving paper cones filled with school supplies and trinkets to celebrate the first day of school. They remind us of Christmas stockings. They are SO easy to make - all you need is: poster board, a stapler, some tissue paper, scissors, a glue stick, and a piece of ribbon.
Here are  the instructions:
1) Roll a piece of poster board into a cone shape. Your goal is to have the smallest opening possible at the tip of the cone. The overall size of the cone itself isn't critical. We find that a standard piece of drugstore poster board rolls naturally into a narrow cone that is approximately 30" tall.
2) Staple the poster board closed to keep the cone shape, and then trim the base of the cone so that the end is fairly level (precision isn't important here).
3) Decorate the outside of the cone as you like - we tend to use school colors and then use Sharpies to write our tweens' names on the schultuetes. Stickers are a great choice too.
4) Fill the cones with small school supplies. This year we included PJs from BeePosh, thin pens to help her color-code her notes, personalized pencils from Oriental Trading, erasers, rulers, portable hand sanitizer gel, a new toothbrush, and some scratch-n-sniff stickers.
5) Once the cones are filled, run glue stick along the INTERIOR edge of the cone's base. Then press tissue paper along the glued edge (we find that 2 pieces of tissue paper works well).
6) Cinch the tissue paper closed with the piece of ribbon, and Voila - a homemade schultuete! Schultuetes can be made in any size and any color combination - have fun with it!
Our tweens open theirs the night before school starts (School Year's Eve), and it's a great opportunity for parents to tuck in any straggling supplies.
What Back to School traditions does your family have? We'd love to hear!
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