With all things in life, moderation is key.

With two young daughters at home, I’ve had to think about random things like when they can go to the mall with friends unsupervised, when they can start dating, and when they can start wearing makeup.

I believe that the privileges of adulthood should be granted incrementally to children, as they mature and prove themselves worthy. I also want to teach them that life is what you make of it, and not to let other people’s expectations alter your own life.

Just because your twelve year old friends are dating, that does not give you permission to date.

I totally just became my mom.

It’s ok. I like my mom.

But what happens when we allow society to alter our children’s hearts and minds so completely that they lose their sense of self? We get eighteen year olds using Botox.

From the Associated Press (H/T Breitbart.com):

MANILA, Philippines(AP) – Filipino teenage singer Charice Pempengco says she prepared for her debut on the hit TV show “Glee” by getting Botox and an anti-aging procedure “to look fresh on camera.”

The 18-year-old Charice, whose singing career rocketed after appearing on Ellen DeGeneres’ and Oprah Winfrey’s talk shows, underwent a 30-minute Thermage skin-tightening procedure and Botox to make her “naturally round face” more narrow, celebrity cosmetic surgeon Vicki Belo told ABS-CBN television.

I doubt that a teenage girl got the idea to get Botox on her own. Shame on her parents, her manager, and any other person in Charice’s life that encouraged this procedure. The only skin-altering treatment a teenager needs is acne medication.

Maybe eighteen is the new forty.