Grace is our girly-girl - and that is an understatement!! She loves jewelry, boas, silky nightgowns - any nightgown, hats, tiaras, purses, lip gloss, shoes, swimsuits, blow-drying her hair, tea parties, baby dolls, looking at herself in the mirror, and looking at pictures of herself.
As any parent would do, Matt and I have told her, "Grace! You look so cute (beautiful, sweet, adorable, etc)!"
In the past couple weeks I've seen her look in the mirror at herself and say, "I am beautiful" or "I look so cute."
As her Mom I have several reactions to these statements from my 2 1/2 year old daughter. My first reaction (of course) was to think, "I don't want her to be conceited! I need to tell her that she shouldn't say that about herself. It's rude to say that you're beautiful!" My second thought was, "I'm so thankful that she thinks she's beautiful. She loves the way God made her. I love the way God made her. I hope as she gets older she continues to look in the mirror and say 'I look beautiful!'"
After having these two conflicting thoughts, I'm left with inner turmoil. How do I help my daughter continue to see herself as beautiful while not coming across as conceited to the outside world? I so desperately desire to help her do this!! Too many girls in this generation look in the mirror and see themselves as "ugly" because of what we see in the media and Hollywood.
In the meantime, I would rather error on the "beautiful" side than the "ugly" side. I'm going to continue to tell both of my beautiful girls exactly what I think of their outer and inner appearance - they are beautifully and wonderfully made in God's image by their Creator.
I will just have to pray that God will bless my motives and give us humility and balance.
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2 comments:
I certainly understand your dilemma! But ultimately, I think you're right -- she's going to get SO many messages telling her she's ugly, not thin enough, busty enough, too busty, etc. etc. For her to enter into that world knowing that she is beautiful inside and out, that God made her a gorgeous creature of his own desire and imagination, and that her parents think she is gorgeous I think is fabulous preparation to fight a world bent on making her insecure.
Carrie,
I LOVE your blog! Please keep posting! One thing I thought about is teaching her to see that not only is she beautiful but so are those around her. Can she see that her friends are beautiful? And that her sister is beautiful? That will help her see beauty not only in herself but all those that God loves.
Breck
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