Yesterday, this beautiful face said she thought her sister was prettier because her sister had curly hair.

Jenny’s hair is really pretty, and when the humidity is right, will curl into ringlets like Goldilocks. If I braid it, the tips make a perfect swirl. I have resisted even a trim for her, just because I’m afraid that curl will go away.

Katie’s hair is super thick and poker straight. It also grows very slowly, which we learned after her little friend cut it and we waited for seemingly forever for it to grow out again. But her hair isn’t unattractive at all, and when combined with this face, she has no worries in the beauty department.

I told her she was gorgeous. Period.

It just bothers me that such a young girl is already acutely aware of her looks and is ready to compare herself with others. She has already voiced concerns over being fat (she, like all my kids, is in the 25 percentile for weight and the 50 percentile for height), but I know just where she got that idea from – an unthinking neighbor told her a over a year ago that she had a big belly, because she was doing the typical kid thing and standing with an arched back and her abdomen pushed out. She might have had poor posture (she was four years old), but she has not an ounce of excess fat on her.

Self-esteem, body image…these are issues I thought I could avoid for a few more years. Apparently not.