Miley: The Strong Willed Child

I am not a follower of current trends and I rarely watch television anymore. Not because I do not enjoy mindless entertainment from time to time, but because my days are filled with board books, baby dolls, cars, and coloring. But, I did hear about Miley Cyrus and her performance on the VMAs with Robin Thicke.

I will start by saying I regret Youtubing it. I was sucked in and I was sad. While watching Miley lick herself and others, dance "provocatively", and rub all over a married man; my heart literally hurt for her. I know she is an "adult" by all definitions of the word, and makes her own choices. But, I saw something in her that truly worried me.

You see, as a child, and watching her grow through the television and media, Miley was obviously a strong willed child. She was obviously passionate. She was clearly an individual. As a momma of a strong willed child, of someone who is already passionate about her "causes" (even if that cause is more Goldfish), I was concerned. What happened to the sweet child who sang beautifully and loved her daddy? As parents, where do we go "wrong" in raising our strong willed children? That was my question. Because I never want to make that mistake. Sure, our lives are VERY different than the Cyrus family, but, I NEVER want to witness my child behaving that way, anywhere. It would shatter my heart into a million pieces to know my child thought that little of the herself and her body.

The other thing that struck me were all the social media comments. They were all negative, and they all held some sort of validity. It was inappropriate. It was hard to watch. It was uncalled for. It was ridiculous. But, as viewers, shouldn't we take some accountability? Shouldn't we have said "We are not watching this filth." and turned it off. The VMAs had 10 million and almost half were between the ages of 12-34 years old. What does that tell you? Our babies are watching this. Our impressionable teenagers are watching this. They are seeing her being cheered on. They are watching her flaunt what little her momma would probably like her to keep covered. They saw her be disrespectful to her own body and to another woman's husband.

As parents, we are responsible for protecting our children from this. We are the ones who sit our kids down and say "That isn't someone I want you having as a role model". Encourage your kids to pray for Miley. Pray she finds whatever it is she is searching for. Give your children positive role models. It doesn't have to be a media figure necessarily, but make it someone relatable to them. Build your child's confidence at home, in things that have nothing to do with their appearance. Say to your daughter, "You are so funny! I love your jokes." Tell your son "You are so very smart. I love the way you built that building out of blocks."

I know I sound preachy. But, at the end of the day, I felt sorry for Miley. More sorry than disgusted.