Seeking Moms with Tween Girls

I totally agree with the spa party idea. A friend of mine had a slumber party when I was around 14 or or so, and her mom had some cleaning products for us to use (she had just started selling Avon lol), as well as face masks. I've been hooked since!
For the veggies, often I "hide" veggies, for example, take some broccoli and a cheese grater and grate the broccoli into some spaghetti sauce for lasagnas, spaghetti, etc etc. Also kids seem to respond better to casseroles with veggies than with just plain veggies (and cooking in one dish is easier on you as well!!). And if you want some fresh veggies, always serve it with dip. If you are worried about calories and fat, go with a light dip, or fat-free. I hope this helps!!

I am 25 with a 16 year old sister and my mom is always relying on me to help with her. :) She is no longer a tween, but I remember going through a phase with her from 11-14 where she was really into making her own decisions (my brother is 13 and he is doing the same thing now). There is no forcing them to make good choices when it comes to food. Eliminating SOME bad foods from the house is a good way. At the tween stage they are just coming into their own "person" so to speak. You can encourage them to make good choices when it comes to food and personal hygiene, but ultimately it will be their choice. And it is better to give them some space. When they realize it is their own decision - which may take months, so grin and bear it patiently- they will often make the right choice. Once they turn around 16, they may start seeing their friends eating a variety of foods or talking about cleansers and that may encourage them to do the same. One suggestion - take your daughter to the mall and let her choose the products she'd like to use. If she gets to make the final decision, she will feel like she has some control (which is ultimately what all young adults want to feel like they have). Also, assigning her to cook dinner or meal plan as the other lady suggested is a great idea that works at our home.

Well, I don't have tween girls, but I would say you could always buy one of those cookbooks that show you how to hide certain veggies in with the yummy foods. Jerry Seinfeld's wife wrote one called "Deceptively Delicious". There are some great recipes in it, and you would never know what that special ingredient is in those brownies!! :) On the skin care, you might try having a sleep over for your daughter and having all the girls have a spa like theme...painting toes, doing facial masks.. that sort of thing. That might entice her to want to take more care of her skin, if she sees her friends doing it and sees that it can be fun!

TWEEEEEEEEEEEEENS! (deep sigh)...

I have a 12 year old daughter also, she is one of three kids. We've done a lot of talking about health, and she's health food snazzy! lol
Here is what helped us..We started doing menu planning, for grocery shopping. I laid cookbooks out on the table, and let the kids pick what they liked to make. They had to pick a meat, starch, and veggie.
They really enjoy helping in the kitchen. Sometimes it feels almost like therapy. We talk, and work side by side. They learn how to cook, read recipes, and it's one on one time.

As for the face washing. My daughter and I bought face masks and cleansers, nail polish etc. Invited some of her friends over, and we had a SPA slumber party. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and in a sneaky way. I taught them about skin health care. (wink wink)

YOU CAN DO IT!!

'Tweens' I think that is a funny word someone made up to put a name to he craziness before teenage years.

I have a 13, 12, and 12... Two are girls. The veggie part Im no help with.. they love almost all veggies.. but my 12 year old has terrible acne. We've been through so many OTC acne cleansers, including ProActive, and dermatologists. I have to stay right on top of her about taking care of her skin. I know she gets tired of hearing it.

The ProActive works okay, but not as good as it looks like it does on TV. Not on her anyway.

Hopefully when she starts being more interested in her appearance and boys, she will start to focus more on her skin.

Im sorry, I started out with intentions of giving some advice and ended up whining about my daughter... YIKES!

I have a 13 year old and discovered a few years ago that she really just doesn't like cooked veggies. I have started providing crudites or salad at most meals and she will eat those.

Hi D.! I know I'm late with this post but I just joined Mamasource so I'm catching up. Looks like you got some good advice from others. One other thing you could look into is a book I got for my daughter when she was 12. It's called "The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls" from American Girl Publishing. My daughter lives with her dad in another state and this was a great way to reinforce the guidance I was giving her long distance. I bet going through this book together would be a great experience for you both. Have a great day!

Certain veggies are just not appealing to tweens. My daughter for example is picky - she'll eat steamed broccoli, but not raw. She loves lima beans but won't eat kidney or pinto beans.

You'll just have to cook with a variety of veggies in your recipe like stir fry and you'll be amazed at which veggies she will eat. Baby carrots with ranch dressing might be a start. Or a spinach dip.