Beauty takes root

I believe that no beautiful woman is beautiful by looks alone. Your personality is a large portion of your beauty. How many times have you met someone who appeared pretty at first, but had such a sour disposition that it changed your opinion of their outer beauty? How many times have you met someone who "became" beautiful in your eyes because of their inner beauty? I know my opinion has been changed quite a few times.

Saying all that, my sweet Elizabeth does not like the color of her natural hair. She was not feeling as beautiful as I know she is. After a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that this was a simple fix and why should I hold her back? I dyed my hair all the time when I was younger (and maybe I still do....). If you hated your dress, wouldn't you change it? Wouldn't you wear high heals (or flats) to change your height? I think that we all have little parts of us that we don't like. Is it your hair color? Your hands? your feet? arms? calves? back? bum? How we react to this aspect of ourselves is important. How much do you care about your ugly toes? Enough to never wear sandals or only enough to want to paint them, so you feel like you make them pretty?

So I decided to let Elizabeth know that if she didn't like her hair color, we could change it. She could pick any color she wanted (uhh, well not purple.... mama's not ready for that yet! But honestly it wouldn't bother me... that much!) I want Elizabeth to know that she has the power to feel beautiful. Sometimes it means taking a relaxing bubble bath with your favorite scented soap, and sometimes it means dyeing your hair. The important lesson is that she take control. I wanted it to be her decision and only hers. Her initial reaction was a happy shock. She hadn't even considered coloring her hair, but she seemed delighted with the opportunity. I told her that she needed to think about it for a few weeks. So after the "waiting period", I asked again.

Elizabeth was very excited and chose to become a redhead!

I stressed to her that she has to love herself both inside and out, and that I thought she was beautiful. I don't want her to fixate on her outside appearance, but I think it is a good opportunity to teach her that small things to make us feel prettier are certainly acceptable. The happiness it brings her help bring out her natural beauty.

I also thought it was quite brave for a 10 year old.

So here are the results!

Both are great pictures in my opinion.