Monday, May 18, 2009
Lovin' the skin she's In
Its always interesting to watch little ones grow and mature. My little niece recently celebrated her 8th birthday. My sister decided to give her the most fabulous sleepover a little girl could dream of, set up in a very swanky hotel room, complete with tons of junk food, loud music, and too many happy, screaming little girls.......well too many for my patience. My nine year old daughter informed me that my sister is MUCH cooler than I am so I guess that means she has more patience than I do. But as I sat there watching the little ladies jump around, singing and dancing I felt so proud of my little niece. She was prancing around in her swimwear proudly parading her beautiful deep chocolate skin and gorgeous afro-puffs. My sister has managed to teach my niece to be proud of how she was created. I proudly sport a natural but I am having a hard teaching my daughters to love their hair. It goes against the standards of beauty they see everyday in school, or on TV. Yes, brown skin and big or short beautiful naturals are becoming more common on TV but not celebrated. My 9 year old should not have to endure teasing at school because her hair isn't straight and hanging down her back. I teach my daughters to we are all beautiful. Our differences are beautiful. I want to teach them to feel comfortable with who they are, not feeling a need to change their appearance to look like anyone else. I want my daughters to know the self-love and proper self-image my sister has managed to instill in my niece, b/c she is lovin' the skin she's in.
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That's awesome that your niece feels comfortable in who she is. It's a struggle, but I know you'll do great with your kids. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I understand I have an 8 year old daughter who competes in dance competitions. A couple of years ago I broke down and did it, I permed her hair and I still get flack about that from many women! However, she loves and knows who she is and is very proud to be a sister of color:)
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see girls with such positive self-esteem at a young age. That's definitely what we need to do - encourage all the young ladies in our lives to feel that way :-).
ReplyDeleteWouldn't the world be so great if we could all be comfortable in the skin we are in?
ReplyDeleteDropped by from SITS.
It's great that your neice's is comfortable in her own skin. We parents have to constantly build up our children's self-esteem because the world is bent on tearing it down.
ReplyDeleteShame that we are still caught up in this light-skin/pretty hair nonsense. I begged for a relaxer when I was 12 and I wish my mom had dug in her heels. 15+ years later (*cough*) I embraced by nappy roots. Now I have a daughter on the way and this is still an issue?! Chris Rock did a documentary on this after his daughter came home asking to have her hair straightened after being teased at her prep school.
ReplyDeleteBTW, thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such a supportive comment about natural birth choice. You rock!