feeling pretty

Last week, my daughter and I had a "girl's night". She had been wanting to see Wicked for a couple of years. Last time it was in town, Scott and I went... she was jealous. Santa brought her tickets this past Christmas. She was over the moon.

She wanted to start getting ready at 3:30 after school. I let her. She chose a beautiful black dress ($13.99 at target), a brown purse, and her first pair of 2" wedges (more on those in a few).

She spent thirty minutes doing her hair. She went through my jewelry box.

Then we spent another thirty plus minutes straightening her hair.

Only after she felt completely ready, we left... it was 5pm... show started at 8!

I let her choose where we should park. She chose where we ate (Mellow Mushroom). We chatted about boys, friends, music, the future, where she wanted to live, what she thought about her brothers, the book that she is reading, and many other topics that are very important to her... some I enjoyed, some I pretended... but we talked. We laughed. She ordered a Shirley Temple... She acted all grown up. It was as if I was looking into a crystal ball... I loved what I was seeing. I was proud.

As we walked from dinner to our show, slowly and barefooted in the grass section of the outdoor mall, Jess looked at me and said words that I have wanted to hear for awhile now...

"mom, for once, I think I look pretty. I mean, is it wrong to say that I feel pretty?"

Now, I know we are to teach our children to be modest and humble... but my daughter has felt fat and ugly for a while now. Whether it has been due to mean girls, lost loves, or her own insecurities...

I was just thrilled to hear that she finally felt good about her appearance...

We had a wonderful night. The food was yummy, and the show was absolutely amazing...

but the best part of the entire night was being with my girl... my girl...

She looked beautiful, and felt it.