Hello to all our iBbeautiful subscribers out there!
This is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and introduce myself to all of you. Saying that iBb has been a whirlwind since the first day we went 'live' would be an understatement at the least.
I am one part of the team that created and runs iBbeautiful. My name is Cindy and I am the mother of two teenagers. I have had first hand experience at witnessing just how hard it is for our tween + teen girls today......and more importantly, how very different their experiences are from the way in which us moms grew up. Every move they make, party the attend, or the parties they don't get an invite for are posted on line for all to see. This makes the natural insecurity that is built into every teen + tween tic up by about a thousand notches.
When we grew up if there was a slumber party that we were not invited to we may have heard a few things about it, but we didn't have to witness it happening live through Facebook and Instagram. Just think, as adults, if we had a group of friends that we assumed all liked us, and then we started seeing Facebook posts where they were all out for dinner and drinks but we weren't included. There are some of us who are tough enough, or secure enough to let it go. But if we had to sit through 7 hours a day (like our kids school days) with these same women, and every morning get up and sit next to them in a classroom (and eat lunch in the same room with them) knowing that we had been excluded over and over, that would be a little tough to bear.......and we're ADULTS! Imagine how hard that is for our kids.
This example is at least a tangible one for us to empathize with, but there are so many other examples that I don't think us adults even have a clue as to what our girls are going through. I have to say as a mom of a 15 year old, sometimes I just can't wrap my head around all the complexities these girls are going through in middle school and high school. And God forbid if, as moms, we react incorrectly (in their view) to a friend incident, or our response (if we're even lucky enough that they talk to us about something that's bothering them) isn't what they wanted to hear......I don't even know what to say except batten down the hatches and hold on while we wait for the emotional drama to pass.
There is an awful lot I don't know, but the one thing I do know is that we all really want to help our girls find courage, security and self-acceptance in themselves, but I'll be darned if there is an easy way to do this. All of us know that our girls are beautiful and our main job is to help them to that place in life where they know this too. This is the concept behind iBbeautiful. It is not just another subscription box that gets delivered every month, it is a box of inspiration and confirmation that they are unique and beautiful just as they are. Hopefully by the products we find for your girls it will bring a chance to bond, a chance for conversation, and a chance for you to once again make a stab at instilling the seeds in their heads that they are enough just as they are. As we say at iBbeautiful.....................B unique, B happy, B you!
As I said in the beginning of the post, the beginning of our company has been a whirlwind.....in some good ways, and some less than positive ways. We experienced some huge problems with our shopping cart provider (Network Solutions.....please don't EVER use them), this problem took many, many hours away from some very important things we wanted to do, but now we're back on track and our June box is something that we are really proud of. We will continue to develop resources and products that will give your girls mantras, strategies, and platforms to discover just how beautiful they really are.
And Moms......hang in there, we hear from a lot of moms that are past the stage that we're at that it all gets better.
Love, Peace, + Patience,
Cindy