Macey had her first Birthday earlier this month
(photos from her party last weekend to come) & one of the presents she received was from my Mum who got
her this gorgeous Disney Princess couch (which she adores by the way). I was so
happily surprised when the next day I unfolded it and discovered this …
“Beauty Comes from a Loving Heart”
I was really impressed with Disney for pointing this out to
these gorgeous little girls who will grow and blossom to become beautiful women
one day. I love how they are deliberately teaching this here and combating many
other messages they will get from the media for the rest of their lives.
These smart and passionate ladies at the website
Beauty Redefined are helping
to correct our misconceptions from the media about self image (particularly
marketed at women) and are showing us how we can correct these messages in our
homes for ourselves and our children.
I have often wondered about how and when I will need to
start teaching this to my kids. Ever since River and Macey were born everywhere
we go they are told how beautiful, adorable, gorgeous and cute they are and
this is from complete strangers who are only looking at their outward
appearance. So I just want to make sure along with that self assurance that
they can grow to realise “hey I have a pretty awesome body Heavenly Father has
given me and when I take care of myself I do look pretty nice on the outside but
I know my worth is not based on my outward appearance but rather from the size
of my heart and the things that I DO.”
This is what I’m aiming for with my kids, that kind of self
assurance and confidence that comes from knowing who you are and loving
yourself in a non cocky way. Because to me there is nothing sadder than a boy
or girl who won’t smile at themselves when they see their reflection in the
mirror because they don’t live up to the false expectations of the media, or
when they can’t seem to say anything positive about themselves or others around
them. I want every child and teenager to know just how AMAZING they are!
I guess the best way I can teach this to my kids is to model
it myself and let my heart burst full of love! (don’t worry if you don’t
normally receive hugs from me I’m not about to come up and attack you) and of
coarse actively point out the lies the media try and push at them and replace
it with great examples of true beauty.
Well I think I’ll end this post with a big cudos to Disney.
I like to Celebrate when I see companies taking the high road even if it’s not
necessarily the pop culture at the time. Also check out
this great song from
Carrie Underwood getting in on the good self image vibes!
