Maggie

She is imaginative, happy, dynamic, loving. Maggie is generous and helpful. She likes spending time with others but equally enjoys her time to herself. She is quick to hug and kiss. She will just as quickly be snotty but will back down. If she doesn't like something, nothing will get her to finish it, I mean food wise. She would rather toss her cookies or gag than finish a bite of something she has deemed unworthy for her stomach.

As I sit here watching Jessica Simpson on Oprah talking about the pressure women feel to be thin or beautiful, I worry. I worry for Maggie who is such a girlie girl, I was a tomboy growing up. I loved being around my mom's MaryKay business but in reality I was usually playing outdoor games not barbies or dolls. Or I made a giraffe out of paper towel tubes and toilet roll tubes and something else, just cause. Maggie makes herself into a gypsy because she puts so many things in her hair to make herself  'pretty'. It concerns me that she puts too much attention on how she looks versus who she is inside, both in her brain and heart.
 Watching the rest of the show with the kids was crazy because they talked about leg lengthening and the plastic surgery craze in China. I feel in some ways that I am doing what my mom did just differently. My mom and sisters were always on diets. Or so it seemed. Heck I would do them kind of just for s.... and giggles. Now it isn't really about diet as it is about all the shows about beauty. I am as guilty as the next. I get sucked in to those shows like 'What not to wear' or Maggie's favorite 'Say yes to the dress'.  I do try and keep most of the guilty pleasures from her because I don't want her to have hang ups. It's more her than anything that would keep me from getting plastic surgery. I want for her to have or learn to have confidence in herself for who she is. It's really hard when she asks if she is pretty. I think she is beautiful inside and out but how do you explain that to a 3 yo except to tell her that I do think she is pretty but I think her being smart is even prettier than her outward appearance. Not that she really understands, I am just hoping that if I say it often enough she will internalize it and accept it as a mantle for her to embrace and wear proudly.
  Another wonderful quark about Maggie is that she likes to keep her knowledge close to her vest. She doesn't necessarily let us know how much she knows. I realize that this will change in time as she heads into kindergarten and beyond but for right now it is both wondrous and frustrating at the same time. You can see the cogs turning in her head as she decides what she wants us to know. She enjoys driving Max crazy with her imagination. Who knows if she will drive Harry crazy as well...