Confidence in Me!

Before there are junior high dances. Before that first blemish threatens. Before you learn the difference between Garanimals and Nike. 

There's this:

Unscathed. Flawless. A lake without so much as a ripple wrinkling the surface.

Julie Andrews sang about it. Classes are devoted to developing it. These days, every kid gets a ribbon, a cookie, a hug and a "great job!" all in an effort to cultivate it.

Confidence. No, more than confidence. Confidence in me.  Trust in yourself. That belief that you are smart enough and important enough. The belief that your swimsuit doesn't make your butt look big because you are amazing:

Bikinis? Not a problem. You've got this under control:

As parents, we enroll them in classes and schools. We hope they find something they love. But, more than anything, we hope they finds something that makes them love themselves:

She picked out her own costume for her very first dance performance. I wanted her with a big blue bow. She thought the pigtails would make her look more grown up.

There were some moments of uncertainty...

and pre-performance nerves.

But in the end, she found it: confidence in me! 

And for the grandparent crowd, I give you our very own Gigi:

(I encourage you to stick around to the end…or at least fast forward to minute 3 to hear a very confident, if not historically accurate, rendition of the Christmas story--a/k/a Jesus and the Fairies Meet Old MacDonald's Chickens in Bethlehem, with a special cameo by none other than Hello Kitty).