My girls. My tribe. My air. We roll deep and we love hard. ⠀ ⠀ It’s been a minute since I talked about how I address things like visual identity with my kids.⠀ ⠀ Yesterday when we were walking downtown they noticed man who looked subtly different from us. They couldn’t quite articulate a description but after awhile, one whispered to me ‘that man was really small.’ He was; he was a person of short stature, and it was impossible not to notice.⠀ ⠀ I love when they open doors like this for us to continue a dialogue around something builds upon an existing set of values. ⠀ ⠀ Our conversation was short, simple and mirrored a message we repeat often. We don’t comment on physical appearances because they don’t matter.⠀ ⠀ What we do talk about is how people feel. ⠀ ⠀ I want so badly for my kids to know that while it is fun (and fair!) to feel proud of and even work for our physical traits, what matters so much more, is how something makes us FEEL. And learning how to grow confidence from that.⠀ ⠀ 💗You did a handstand pushup - how do you feel?⠀ 💗You completed that really hard assignment - how do you feel?⠀ 💗You are twirling around in your dance leotard - how do you feel?⠀ ⠀ Bringing it back to the man they saw on the street; I asked my daughter, ‘how do you think he felt when you were staring at him? Could you have looked into his eyes and smiled at him instead?’⠀ ⠀ Her reply: ‘I bet that would have made him feel really good.’ ⠀ ⠀ YES! We rise by lifting others. And to me, that is the most beautiful trait there is.⠀ ⠀ Guys, I do A LOT of things wrong in parenting. But I hope my kids always remember the message in this somewhat irreverent quote from John Mayer: “The only way to be beautiful is to be loving. Otherwise, it's just ‘congratulations about your face’” ⠀ ⠀ September 8, 2019