Because I didn't figure out it was this time of the year until today... I will make both my A&B post in the same day. This is no small accomplishment, since I haven't written in a year.
We are all beautiful. No matter if you're young or old, thin or not so thin, tall or short, black, white, brown, red or green. No matter if you have straight hair, or curly hair or no hair at all, pink hair, blue hair, brown hair or blond hair. WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL.
When Curly was growing up, she was into the skater grunge look. She always wore big, baggy, black clothes, and had eggplant purple hair. Nothing girly. Ever. She was determined her daughter was not going to be defined by pink frills and would not be all girly with Barbie dolls, Disney Princesses and the like.
Dimples loves Princesses. Loves. Them. Her favorite color is pink then purple. Dresses she gets to chose herself are determined by if they are sparkly and how they look when she twirls in them. A pink, sparkly, twirly dress is the best thing in the world. She would wear dresses every minute of every day, if her mom would let her.
Her Grandpa told her a few months back she was his Princess. Later she said to me that she wasn't really a Princess. I explained that she was a Princess. That we are all Princesses because we are daughters of a Father that loves us and who is the King. Last night he wanted to do a Princess and the Pea experiment. He would put a pea under her bed and if she was a Princess the pea would turn into a ball sometime during the night. If not, it would still be there. Well... you know the outcome of that. She came running into my room, the ball raised high in the air, declaring, "I AM A PRINCESS, NANA, I AM A PRINCESS." We are not turning her into an insufferable, stuck up brat. We are helping her realize her Diving heritage.
Earlier today, she said we weren't Princesses today because we weren't wearing a dress. I pulled up picture of Princess Diana and Princess Kate wearing pants. Then picture of them in gowns with their crowns on their heads. I made it clear that Princesses wear pants. Once a Princess always a Princess, no matter what you are or are not wearing.
I recently read about how we are supposed to, or not supposed to greet and talk to little girls. The gist was when we greet them with, "What a pretty dress that is" or like I have with Dimples, "You look beautiful" that we are somehow teaching them it is all about how they look, making it all about their bodies, thereby creating issues for them in the future. We are supposed to ask them about what they are reading, or something.
A few days later saw video in which some kids decided to have Prom for all the Special Needs kids in the area. They hired cosmetologists to do their hair, boys and girls, this included haircuts for boys and girls and make-up for the girls. They gave them beautiful dresses and tuxes, no matter if they were wheel chair bound, low or high functioning. Companions, not based on gender, were assigned to them, to stay with them the entire evening. They hired limos to transport them all to prom for the dance. There they were greeted by the kids from the high schools, parents were there cheering, clapping and holding signs to greet them. They were behind red ropes and there was a red carpet for them to walk down. There were many press cameras and others taking photos. You could see on their faces and the way they waved at everyone that this would be the night of their lives.
I went back to the original post and reposted the video with the comment: "Sometimes we need to feel and be told, and know we are beautiful." These kids felt beautiful and handsome. They were Beautiful and Handsome At that moment they knew they were beautiful, not different. They had likely not had that chance before. They were important and beautiful enough that people were there to watch them walk into that building and take their pictures.They had likely not had that chance before.
It isn't a necessarily a sexist, insulting thing to have someone think and let you know that you are beautiful. Beautiful inside and out. We need to know we are beautiful. Even if you are the only one that tells yourself you are beautiful, it is true. We are all beautiful. I think that comes from being told in honest and non-vain ways while still little girls. Especially by our parents and grandparents. We are designed that way. Knowing we are a beautiful daughter of a King makes all the difference not only in how you feel but in how you present yourself to the world.
What do you do to feel like a Beautiful Princess?
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