Forward to Dear Isis, Life Lessons on Life, Love, Sex, Spirit and Finance From Your Mother with Love

I do not have a daughter...yet. I am a mother, blessed with a beautiful boy named Zeon. The refrain, "Oh, you're so lucky to have had the boy first! They are so much easier," has echoed in my ear more than once. Followed closely by, "Girls are such a headache."
I wanted a girl first. I wanted to buy the frilly dresses and pretty matching bows and headbands. I smile happily, longingly at my friend Evelyn's little girl as she shows me pictures of her in her flamenco dress and shoes. I wish I had my own little one to dress up like a doll.
The problem with little dolls though, is that they grow up to be tumultuous, precocious, rebellious young ladies to put it lightly. At three years old, Kaitlyn, Evelyn's little one, is already a headstrong firecracker. She laments often on how she has to continuously reinforce polite behaviour amidst the cartoon inspired fart noise sessions and "pee-pee, ca-ca" fueled hysterics preschoolers get caught up in. Despite these moments, she is also already begging to wear high heels and insists that dresses are the only things that make a girl "pretty."
It is from these conversations with Evelyn and other mothers like her, plus own experiences growing up, that I decided to write a handbook for my own daughter. A handbook of my personal life lessons and what I learned from other people's mistakes along the way. Do not get me wrong, my parents did their best. That did not stop me from falling into common adolescent traps. Things like depression, poor self-esteem, poor self-image due to perceived "obesity" and acne, toxic relationships, poor money management skills and peer pressure to name a few.
Believe me, I would have loved to have had a point a reference to look at whenever I needed some advice. Especially, from a person I knew only had my best interest in mind. I would have probably preferred to stab myself in the eye with a pencil than admit to my mom that I read such a book from her had she given me one. You bet your butt I would have read it though. That time of my life was tough for me, I do not know about you. So here I go, Dear Isis,...