When I was preggers I had promised myself that if I did not have a cute baby, I would admit it. But you know what? All babies are cute to their parents because that is how they stay alive. If you didn’t think your baby was cute, you would probably wouldn’t tolerate them peeing on you, biting your nipple, or screaming in your face while looking you in the eye.

So okay, I think The Munch is pretty adorable, but it makes me think of how we as a society regard beauty and how it effects self-esteem. Especially as a girl, we tend to equate attractiveness with feelings of self worth, which is totally nuts because lots of good-looking people are super boring.

Even though I don’t want The Munch to obsess over the way she looks, I don’t want her to be a total slob either, because that extreme can also effect your spirit in a negative way. If you have crust all over your face, and are wearing the same dirty mismatched clothes for over a week, I am willing to bet it is not because you are in a good mental place and are probably watching CSI Kentucky by yourself on Friday Nights.

What if we regarded our looks not just by what people saw on the outside, but how our behavior made us feel inside our bodies? What if we wanted to look young because we would feel healthy? If we wanted to look fit because if felt good to move our bodies? What if we wanted to look clean because then we didn’t attract lice? What if looking good was more about feeling good? Maybe I can encourage The Munch to focus on how she feels more than what she sees, and she will look good because she feels healthy and happy?

I want to change my underwear, because I like the way that feels… I want to brush my teeth, because I don’t like the way fuzz tastes in my mouth. I want to wash my hair because it hangs in my face and I don’t like the way that smells. This type of thinking.

(Not to totally contradict everything I just said… but doesn’t The Munch totally look like a Jolie-Pitt here?? ;o)