Two years and two months is a funny age. She is an amusing mixture- part baby and part little girl. She has just discovered what feeling “pretty” means. I thing that down deep every girl wants to feel pretty one time or another. We’ve just noticed that when she hears daddy coming home, she will run to put something fancy in her hair or put on a nice, clean outfit. She always meets daddy at the door with such enthusiasm. He scoops her up and tells her, “Wow! You look pretty!” She, being two years old, always replies back, “Ya! I priiitty!”
As she’s growing up I think the tricky part is going to be to teach her that pretty on the “inside” is even more valuable than pretty on the “outside”. Sometimes it’s hard to live t
Do you agree or disagree with the importance of that verse? How in the world do we teach this to our girls (boys, too!) when every media outlet tells them the opposite?
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Big Kahuna and I have known each other since we were kids and have been married for almost 15 years. We are passionate about our family, travel and serving God. We love helping people and bringing them hope. We laugh ourselves to tears watching classic episodes of Saturday Night Live and The Office. Summer is our favorite season, and we live for warm evenings playing with the kids on the beach.
Big Surf is 14 years old. He's a voracious reader, focused, and spends hours building things. He is our resident techie and is also learning to play the violin. He loves to spend his free time playing baseball, flag football, or out on the trails by the house building his clubhouse.
Goofy Foot is ten years old. He devours his free reading books like there is no tomorrow. He is also the family comedian. If you see him, ask him to tell you a joke! He is tender-hearted, social and compliant. When he is not outside riding his bike, you'll find him drawing or writing a funny book.
Beach Bunny is three years old. She is our sunshine! She joined our family through the unbelievable gift of adoption. Beach Bunny loves to snuggle with us and carefully takes care of her baby dolls. She is super silly and must say hi to everyone! One word that describes her is "joy".
37 comments:
I am often telling my daughter how pretty she is when she wears dresses or I do something fun with her hair. And I always try to rephrase to imply that while she is always pretty, sometimes she just has a little extra something special. It IS really hard, and I do worry I am raising someone who will be too fixated on being "pretty". Where is the happy medium? I'll keep looking!
I agree 110% with the importance of that verse. There are so many outwardly beautiful people in this world who are horrible role models.
I would say find an example of someone who does something terrific, that is compliment worthy. For example, someone helping an elderly person put their groceries in the car..."Oh honey, Look at what that pretty person did". If they question the physical beauty of the person, simple reply that the person is beautiful because he/she helped someone who needed them.
Is this cheesy?
First... oh my word, she IS gorgeous!!!!
It is hard to set that example. Gabriella definitely twirls around and says she's pretty when she wears a dress or has her hair done.
I hear you....you want them to know that they are beautiful, but also that being beautiful is more than skin deep. It is a very fine line. WE are struggling with that right now with our 9 year old.
I tell my girls that they're beautiful all of the time. And sometimes I feel like they might not understand that I'm referring to the WHOLE package and not just their flawless exterior.
Someone in the adoption community (can't remember who) mentioned a while back that she always adds "and smart and funny" to any compliment about physical beauty so I've started saying "You're so beautiful -- and smart and funny!"
Hey, baby steps, right?
Donna
Our Blog: Double Happiness!
#1) LOVE the verse. I truly believe that ANYTHING coming from God's Word is of the highest priority.
#2) The fact that you are already aware/concerned about teaching your baby girl the importance of inward beauty is half the battle!! Clearly it is important to you, and I truly believe that you'll make it a priority for "Beach Bunny".
With my five year old daughter, we are constantly talking about how we treat others and the way we are treated. When someone hurts her felings, we talk about why we don't want to treat others that way. That God want us to be kind to everyone.
We also discuss that we are God's princess. We are His royalty. We are the child of the King of Kings!!
Loved this post!
Hey,
When Madeline gets her hair done, or when she is finished getting dressed she always shouts "I so pretty" .. She is also told frequently how beautiful she is. What I do (not as often as I should.. I'm afraid) is tell her that yes, she is beautiful, smart, friendly, nice and those are important qualities too. She's 3, but I figure if I keep telling her all those things she will realize that those are important aspects in life as well.
I think it all stems back to self esteem and confidence and what we instill in our children.
Hugs!
Ashley
She sure is pretty!
Love, Dad.
She is such a pretty girl. We stress to each of our girls since we've been home that each of them are gorgeous in each special way. We just use repetitiveness to reinforce that everyone has beauty everywhere inside and out.
Thanks for your comment! I hopped on over here only to find the most precious pictures of your two year old! I just LOVE that age. The age where they just take everything in. And yes, I definately agree with that verse. I too want to instill that into my children. God examines our hearts not our looks. You have a beautiful family and I look forward to following along!
I believe this is an important verse in deed! I tell my girls they're beautiful all the time and as they grow I want them to know they must be beautiful on the inside too!!
Amen to the verse. In today's society it is hard to get the kids to understand the meaning of it, but we are constantly trying to reinforce that "inner" beauty --a kind heart, is much more important than outer beauty!
Have a great weekend!
Becky
awww, she is adorable. Pretty is a word we use all the time - especially if we want to comb Anna's curly locks. Otherwise, as soon as Anna sees the comb - she is off running and screaming "no, no, no". I am not sure where the curly hair came from, but it's adorable. Thanks for sharing your pics.
margaret.
Stacy, I just love your posts. I've had this conversation with my friends about our daughters many times, too. We joke that we constantly tell our girls how pretty they are...and then say, "and on the inside, too!" :) I think it's okay to have a healthy self-esteem and want to feel your best (for a 2 year old, that means putting on "pritty" dress). I think it's equally important (if not more) that we remind our GORGEOUS daughters that God is looking on the inside, too. Good reminder for us all.
Much love,
Jo Jo
Thanks for visiting my blog. It is not easy to keep your children grounded in today's environment. Positive reinforcement is the key. Making sure that when they do something from the 'heart', that you confirm how beautiful they are. Great blog, I know I will enjoy following the progress.
hi! thanks for following my blog :)
funny you should mention this particular verse. my daughter and i are at a communicators for christ speech and debate conference, which teaches teens to speak out about their faith and to be able to defend it. one of the classes i went to yesterday used this very same verse. they were trying to get the students to understand that though the world may look at their outer package, God sees their inner person and wants them to show that "inner"ness to the world. that's the only way we can reach people for Christ. that's awesome that you have this verse up today! bless you for the reinforcement :O)
That's a great verse. I think it's something my parents instilled in me and my sisters from a young age and I *hope* it's something that I can pass on to my kids.
Beauty is a gift from God, so as with all of His gifts, it should be celebrated as such. Not in a prideful way though.
To celebrate this gift to give Him glory is fine.
It is important to celebrate all gifts though, as you stated with the beauty within.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Your daughter is beyond words beautiful! Her sweet smile is priceless!!!
You little ones are so sweet. I am following you also. Thanks for stopping by.
Jo Jo and I just had this conversation a couple weeks ago because we both tell our girls so often that they are so pretty! We said we need to be careful that they know how pretty they are on the inside too and just how important that is!! That verse is a good reminder and we all need to live out "being pretty on the inside" daily!
And so here I go... Love those BEAUTIFUL pics of Bella! You can see in her eyes just how sweet she is!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and entering my contest! Sorry you didn't win :(
You have the cutest blog and the cutest kids! I think I'll grab your button!
soooo pretty is right!!! I love the things they say at this age!!!
I love your blog!
What a beautiful family you have!! I have always heard that the love a daddy shows his daughter is the best defense against the outside world - I guess that is one reason we rely on our heavenly Father so much:)
I love this post too. We hope to teach our daughter's never to judge a book by it's cover and that everyone has a story to tell.
It maybe wrong but we have certain words that we do not use in house. They know they are not good words.
Ugly, Fat, stupid- those are bad words in our home. No good ever comes from words like that.
Don't get me started on manners! ;)
If people compliment our girls and tell them how pretty they are in public- I try to nicely say thank you and they are just as beautiful on the inside too
Love your blog!
I'm with you! The media has ruined our self esteem for long enough. I'm consantly telling my sweet baby boy how good he is and handsome he is. No worries..when he's bad I let him know that too.
I know that if I fill his mind with positive thoughts he'll most likely grow up to be a positive person. Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting. Your family is beautiful! I'll be back to visit your blog. It's great! God bless!
This is a very important verse and a tough one to teach...let alone personally grasp at times! I do not have kids at this time, so I couldn't offer how to teach this to her, but I can say that a good and kind hearted person such as yourself will find the right words for her. Keep on surrounding her with the positive light you do and she will be guided straight :)
Such an important verse. First it's really what matters and two it gives us a guide as to how we should look at ourselves especially when we aren't feeling pretty on the outside or start to buy into what our society displays in the media!
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
You have an awesome blog. Love the nicknames! And your photos are amazing!
Great words to live by....especially for someone that is 41 and the outside is harder to maintain!!!! M-S gets her lipstick on and runs to show her daddy! How different are girls?!!!! WOW! Today we celebrate our daughter's birth....my mind thinks of her BM today especially! When are you going to continue your lessons?!!!! hugs!
That verse is SO incredibly important...I LOVE it and have vivid memories of my parents impressing that onto our heart's growing up. It is a battle in today's society, but constantly recognizing good deeds, acts of kindness, and seizing every teaching moment will really drive the point home. And I just have to say she is absolutely precious!!! :)
I agree she IS beautiful and with a mom like you...I am sure she will grow to be just as beautiful on the inside.
By the way ...I just love these pictures!!
I think you have smart readers!! What a thoughtful and kind young girl you have there...
Many blessings!
Amanda
Hey there! I am a mother of FOUR girls..yes 4! So modesty, purity, inner beauty, GODLY beauty are all things I am constantly trying to teach them and be an example to them of. Your girl is too young yet, but there is a website called Secret Keeper Girls by Dana Gresch. She is often featured on Focus on the Family and she has a heart for girls, moms, and teaching purity modesty. She has books, bible studies, programs and date nights designed to help show our Godly girls what it means to be Godly and pure in God's eyes and in today's society. Might want to bookmark it for your girl. Or, if you are like me, I bought the bible study/programs for my girls when I first heard of them several years ago, now they are 10 and 8 and ready for the info.
Your girl is so precious and she will grow up to be just like her sweet and beautiful mommy! You are doing such an amazing job with her! I admire you. Thank you for the reminder to teach our girls about inner beauty. I so need to get working on that. Many blessings to you! :)
Those pictures are so sweet. My 17 month is starting to get that concept too. She's constantly walking around the house with one of my purses on her shoulder and smiling and doing a little pose. This is such a great age!
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