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Catholic Christians believe that God made each and every one of us unique and unrepeatable.
No one is a mistake.
No one’s gender is a mistake.
In fact, we believe in the beauty and wonder of God’s creation and that our bodies and our souls reflect .
Our culture is sending out a ton of messages that girls are hearing as young as age 4.
Some messages are not bad. Kindness, compassion and loving ones neighbor is certainly valued by both our society and our religion.
Some messages are confusing and quite misleading.
As a mother of a young Catholic daughter, I hope to cultivate a place in my daughter’s heart that will allow the seed of faith to take root so that she can remain in Jesus her whole life.
I want my Catholic daughter to see value in virtue.
I want her to find comfort in prayer and the Sacraments.
I want us both to go to heaven, and while we are striving to make it there, I was us to experience awe and wonder of our great God!
As someone who worked with young people since college – as a camp counselor and an educator – I can say with confidence this – I understand the adolescent age group well.
They are pure. They have huge dreams for the world to be a better place. They want to be loved. They long for approval. They want to feel respected and admired.
When we are thinking about giving them gifts this season, here is what I suggest.
Catholic Girls and Christmas: What to Give and Why
1.Give Longer Moments of Undivided Attention
It may sound cheesy, but even though girls act like they want to be treated like an “independant woman”, they really crave our eye contact, our active and engaged listening, our smiles, compliments and yes – even hugs!
Why?
Daughters want to hear stories from their moms (and dad’s) lives!
When I interviewed a Chastity speaker for the article How to Talk to Your Catholic Tween About Sex, this advice was given with great conviction:
Katelyn D’Adamo, Director of Generation Life, also wants you the parent to know, your child wants to hear from YOU! Generation Life speakers go into classrooms and discuss Chastity and find this truth over and over again. The students want to hear from their parents. It might be awkward, but young children will appreciate that you had the courage to speak with them about this topic.
*Camp mugs are fun to give and yes, I love that there is a cute, Catholic option. . . . but there’s something deeper here.
There’s 2. Your daughter might have outgrown tea parties, but she has not outgrown one on one time with you. Whether it’s mugs with hot chocolate and a promise of a date in the kitchen, or a gift card to Starbucks, this gift can have a beautiful memory attached too.
2. Give Advice They Can Use
Have you ever heard a piece of advice and thought, “I wish I heard this YEARS ago?!”
That’s how I felt when I heard this quote from Mother (now Saint) Teresa:
“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.”
As a young girl I often questioned God’s will and purpose for me. I didn’t realize the importance and significance of little acts of love.
One of my favorite pages in the girl’s Be Yourself Journal has this quote in the middle of a practically blank page.
The directions on this page encourage the owner to make a collage around the quote of pictures of her and one other person.
There is plenty of room for her to create a “scrapbook-like” page featuring herself with friends and family members!
This fun activity is meant to remind young girls that God sees incredible beauty in little acts of love…
That little things often are really quite significant.
If you have a pre-teen or young teen daughter/niece/Goddaughter or sister, consider giving them
a fun mini Instant camera,
These mini-cameras are on lots of gift guides for teens and tweens!
Give a camera and a journal, and put a bookmark or sticker in this page! She’ll have a great time with your gift and you gave her some great advice that will save her from some unnecessary stress in life!
3. Give Trendy Styles with a Catholic or Christian Twist
The mini cameras are on lots of gift guides this year. I highly suggest giving this camera with the girl’s Be Yourself Journal so they have a place to put the pictures they take and channel that energy into a fruitful, learning opportunity!
Another gift guide I was looking at under the “Girl/Teen Gift Guide” category for this year listed:
“Zodiac perfect tiny stud” earings.
There are plenty of cute stud earrings that have a Christian message that girls will love!
Love these ones from Pink Salt Riot:
Light of the World acrylic stud earrings
White Heart Acrylic Post earrings
4. Give a journal
Every gift guide I see for this age group suggests a journal.
Having taught 7 through 12th graders I can assure you, many times they have NO IDEA WHAT TO WRITE!
This doesn’t mean journals are not a good idea – on the contrary, journals are a great idea and getting our daughters to get in the practice of keeping a journal will help them have a richer prayer life and greater success in life.
I was on a business call recently and a woman who I was talking to about business tips and help held up her journal and said something about journaling. I told her that I have some Advent journal prompts for her if she was interested and what she said next I have to share with you . . .
She said:
“I have never been a journaler, but every successful person I follow on social media seems to journal and recommends it, so I am going to try it.”
We need to encourage our girls to journal. But let’s make sure they know the most important person we need to bring our thoughts, fears, feelings and aspirations too . . . Our Lord Jesus.
5. Give Girls Cozy and Comfy Gifts
They might feel to old to ask for stuffed animals – or maybe you have just banned anymore from coming into your house – but that desire for something soft and huggable – does it really ever go away?
I am going to say as a grown woman – no, it does not lol!
Most girls and women love a cozy throw blanket.
Depending on the girl you are shopping for style, she might like the one pictured above or
This one from Rakstar Designs: Catholic Fleece Blanket
Or this Tapestry Blanket from Pink Salt Riot: You Are Tapestry
Pop-it Rosary Bracelet from Catholics Sticker Club
Let’s not forget the comfort of prayer.
A prayer journal, a Rosary, even a Miraculous Medals necklace – these things can and will bring comfort when held and used.
Want more ideas?
I have more ideas over at Spiritual Stocking Stuffers: Catholic Edition
Want Catholic gift ideas for the whole family? Check out this list!
That Ave Maria blanket is gorgeous! I remember one year I got a “20 minutes of mom’s undivided attention” ticket and to this day, I haven’t “cashed” it in because I treasure it so much. Of course, she and I have had many, many moments of undivided attention but there’s some attachment I have to that ticket and won’t let go of it.
Wow! What an incredible testimony that our parents attention means so much to us when we are young! Thank you so much for sharing!