Picture Day!

Today Joslyn had picture day at school. She said she wanted her hair straight and wanted to wear a dress. She did not have a dress that was clean (don't worry, I'm doing laundry while typing), so we went with a cute grey shirt from Forever 21....did you know that they had a little girls section? She wore it with sparkly grey tights and a lace purple skirt...I know you can only see her shirt in the picture, but she looked cute! I also straightened her hair :)

While walking up to the classroom, I asked her how she was planning on smiling...she smiled her fake pose smile, and I said "looks great!" She said "remember how you said that I have a fake smile when I'm taking a picture? Well, is it that smile?" Ugh! Breaks my heart! I made her feel insecure, less than perfect...me! Her mom, the one who is supposed to assure her that she is beautiful and enough! So I told her, "you look beautiful, no matter how you smile! When I said that before, it was because when I see you smile naturally through joy or excitement, it makes my heart swell. It's infectious and it makes people want to be around you, so they can feel that joy too! This smile is just as beautiful...it's just that you are thinking about smiling, so it is missing that joy! Try thinking of something funny or something that makes you happy and then smile. If it comes out forced, I will still love it and show it to everyone!" With that she gave me one of her glorious smiles and said "Mom, I love you!"