One of my administrators at Lanier always tells baby girls that they are smart and pretty. She has a daughter that is almost a year older than Lydia, and she observed that everybody told her how pretty she was. In an effort to teach her early on that looks are not a little girl's only attribute, she introduced the "smart" comment. I tried to do this for a bit, but it felt really contrived. I tell all babies how cute and pretty they are. I do feel there is merit to this idea, though, and there are certain things I want Lydia to believe about herself from the get-go, so every night when I put Lydia down in her crib, I leave her with these words:
"Mommy loves you, and you're a brave, strong girl."
The semester I’ll grieve
3 years ago
This made me laugh-- the idea of telling a 6 mos old she's strong and brave-- but I also agree with you totally. Just hadn't thought of it. Need to think of something like that to tell Josephine.
ReplyDeleteLaurie,
ReplyDeleteI think that is what YOUR mama said to you each night, too.
"You're a brave, strong girl."
Barb L.