The Prettiest Girl in the Whole School

"Today I'm going to be the prettiest girl in the whole school!" exclaimed my daughter on a recent morning as she prepared to go to kindergarten.

It seems innocent enough, the type of thing a little girl just coming out of the "princess stage" might say. But as she got ready, I could see that she was serious about being the prettiest and that got my mind turning...

I found myself faced with one of those split-moment parenting decisions at 6:30 am...How do I respond? Encourage her as a way to reinforce her confidence? Discourage her as a way to steer her away from vanity? She's barely five, for goodness sakes, does it matter?

It mattered to me, so I took the took the middle route: "Jenna, you are so very beautiful, but I don't know if you can actually be the prettiest girl in whole school."

That got her attention: "Why?" she asked.

"I just don't know if there is such a thing, Jenna," I said. "Beauty is a personal thing."

"But I want to be the prettiest girl in school!" she countered.

So I explained to her that people were a little bit like flowers, with so many beautiful kinds of flowers and colors. Which was the prettiest: a rose, a daisy, a lily, a sunflower? Which color was the best? She might have a favorite, but what would her brother choose? Would it be the same one that I would choose?

She seemed to understand.

As we pulled up to school, she said, "Mommy, I still want to be the prettiest girl in school."

"Then there's one thing you can do, Jenna," I said. "Have a smile on your face and love in your heart and you will be as beautiful as you can be."

And as she skipped away pulling her pink butterfly camouflage backpack, I thought she was the prettiest girl in the whole school.