kiss your brain

Lolly, family friend and retired kindergarten teacher, has started a new trend in our house. 

It's well known that people love to compliment little girls on how cute, adorable, sweet, beautiful and pretty they look. Little girls overwhelmingly receive comments on their hair, their clothes and their accessories. While it's not a bad thing to tell someone they are beautiful, I've always had a problem with how much attention is paid to girls' appearances. 

Have you ever noticed that when you compliment a little girl on how she looks (i.e. you look so cute, i love your hair, your shoes are adorable), they barely acknowledge it? (At least my girls sort of shrug it off). But when you compliment them on being smart, they beam with pride.

Since day one, I've tried really hard to make sure the girls know that we think they are smart.

Nana, recently told me about Lolly's little trick she used to do with her kindergarten students (apparently she still does it with herself!). When a child does something or says something smart, she would say kiss your brain!

So now, after I compliment one of the girls on being or saying something smart, I also tell them to kiss your brain. 

Little Bird especially loves this idea. I think she knows when she says something smart even before I have a chance to tell her. And when I do, she puts her hand to her mouth and eyes me until I tell her to kiss your brain. She gets so excited about being smart and is always looking for something new to be smart about. She beams with huge pride when we reassure her that she is smart.

While Little Pie likes this idea too, she is more laid back about it. She already knows she is smart so she doesn't need the extra reassurance. She isn't arrogant but is instead very confident that her ideas are good and smart. She is very sure of herself which is wonderful to see. (Sometimes it can be a problem though, especially when, for example, I cannot convince her that smearing an entire tube of Chapstick on her window is not a good way to "clean" it).

So if you are someone that compliments a little (or big!) girl on how smart she is, kiss your brain!