Last week, my facebook newsfeed was filled with discussions and shares regarding Dove’s newest beauty campaign.
I began to wonder: When, in the journey of childhood, do our girls start perceive themselves based on looks?
The next morning, while snuggled in bed with my seven year old daughter, I wrapped my arms around her :
*Maddie? How would you describe yourself to someone else?*
She paused, tapped her long finger against her cheek for a bit…twisted her mouth to the side,
“Hmmm, well…I’m brown. I have black hair, brown eyes….I have a scar on my back annnnnnndddd I’m small.”
The corners of my mouth turned up in response.
*Anything else?*
“Yeah, I have a really goofy Mom!”
A huge tickle attack ended the conversation. 
Later, I thought about her answer…realizing she never described herself with anything but concrete words.
Only words which described the obvious: color, size, and visual things (her scar).
No perceptions of beauty, outward looks or abstract thoughts of what others think of her.
No judgements. No self destruction. Just the plain old obvious.
I just wanted to freeze time right there. Keep the pureness of childhood eyes in her life forever.
I believe people in the world should see others just as young children do.
Later that week, I saw a blog post where the ladies of Mom 2.0 were working with Dove to
help do exactly what I was wishing for….looking for ‘unstoppable girls.’
I instantly sent them this as my entry…
“Mama, I want purple streaks in my hair.”
I had to say yes, even though she’s 7, because she the kid that never asks for anything. The girl that choses to sit in a room just reading a book, even if there are other kids playing, if the book is so good she just can’t put it down. The girl that just needs to crack a smile and instantly everyone around her is smiling, she’s that contagious. The girl that stops to scratch her bug bite in the middle of a soccer game, unapologetically, because ‘it itched!’
I’ve learned to be a more independent woman because she is my daughter. To be stronger, braver and bolder.
She loves to dance in the wind. The purple streak doesn’t define her. She defines it.
because every. single. day.
my girl teaches me to view the world through the eyes of child
and live each day thinking we live forever
and all things are simple and beautiful…..
just
like
HER
Devotedly yours,
