Mama I want to be Pretty or Day 3 (Onetober and 31 Days in the Life of Me)

October:

For the month of October I will be participating in two challenges. Onetober: One Dress, One Month, One Cause and The 31 Day Challenge. You can read more about these here  and here.

Day 3

Me and my Bear.

Those who have been reading my blog know that we are sending Bear to a private school this year. Because she is in the Pre-K program she doesn't have to wear a uniform most days. However, Wednesday is chapel day which means wearing the school's red polo shirt. And she hates it. This child is not cut out for uniforms let me tell you. She puts up a fight every time we tell her it's red shirt today. Today I found out why.

Josh and I were driving down the road when he informed me that she doesn't like it because "It's not pretty." We talked about the things we can do to help her understand that "pretty" isn't what she wears but simply who she is. And that she is so much more than physically pretty. She is smart, and funny, and kind, and oh so more many other things.

And then I thought about the first night of this and how I was discussing my insecurities with Josh and comparing how I look now with how I looked at our wedding. All he could talk about is who I have become since then, what I have accomplished, and how much more me I am now.

And it hit me. This isn't just about the words I am speaking about and over my daughter. It's about the words I am speaking to, and about, and over myself. And even deeper than my words are my actions and my thoughts and how I interact with others and her. And it all just sort of settled. I may not love how I look, but I love what brought me to this place. My beautiful, smart, funny, kind, amazing Bear and her sister Goose and everything else in my adventure.

***There have been a couple posts floating around on facebook today about moms being in photos and being comfortable in their own skin. You can read them here and here if you want to read them since they both are far more eloquent then I am.