Oh, I know—every mother thinks this of her child. I don’t have a problem saying it out loud, though. I think we should be telling our babies—particularly our girls—that they’re beautiful. On the inside and the out. I have my reasons. The consistent and constant attack on black girl beauty being one of them. That’s the deeper meaning behind this post. The more simple one? My daughter, Mari, took two awesome self-portraits of herself on her iTouch and I couldn’t resist sharing my favorite. It’s so pretty. She’s so pretty. And she makes me happy. So there it is.
Aaaaand, in case you haven’t noticed, I have a new profile picture on the MyBrownBaby “About” page, of me with my (kinda) new hair. About two months ago, I chopped it all the way off. Just took the scissors to it and cut it from shoulder length down to a teeny weenie afro, about 3 inches long. See, last year, I made the mistake of getting my hair pressed by someone who didn’t know what the hell she was doing, and her over-processing made my kinky hair, which has been natural for more than a decade, bone straight. Like just-got-out-the-chair-with-a-Dr.-Miracle-relaxer straight. And after trying to hang on to the length and the natural for upwards of eight months, I got tired of seeing about 50 eleven textures and strangs laying all over my head and looking like I was rocking a nest that had been attacked by a bunch of angry birds.
So off it came.
And I couldn’t be happier.
Shout-out to CurlyNikki.com for being an AWESOME resource for natural girls; I spent, literally, an entire weekend on her site learning how to care for, style and be inspired by my new short ‘do, and learning, too, how to care for my little ladies’ locs and twists. Hands down, CurlyNikki.com is the best site EVER for natural hair care.
In the words of the incredible Heavy D: Be inspired!
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Your girl beautiful just like her momma! I show mine off proudly because I too have some of the most beautiful girls (and a boy) on earth. Parents are the ones who help build confidence in our children. You are doing a spectacular job with yours!!
I love it!!!
I love tha hair, that her picture brings you joy. That’s awesome.
I make sure to tell my son he is great and capable and loved every chance I get. if we don’t do it for our babies, who will?
I meant *the hair. LMAO!I was all excited… haaa!
I don’t know who is more beautiful the momma or the baby. How about sexy momma & gorgeous baby!
Your hair is fabulous!!! And yes, we need to tell our girls they are beautiful.
My 3 yr old, Miss E, has been looking in the mirror lately and saying, “I look GOOOOOD.” And we say, “Yes, you do!”
And I’m thankful my husband, much like my father did for me, is there for our daughters. He showers them with compliments. I didn’t need some horny teenage boy to tell me I was pretty (in an attempt to get a little somethin’-somethin’), because my dad had already instilled in me a long time ago that I was beautiful.
Fathers need to step it up!
Beautiful mommy and daughter and fist pump from one natural to another, I love it!!!
YES!!!!!!! You know I STAN for that hair, those babies, and this idea of claiming our beauty for ourselves!
I got 99 problems but a perm ain’t one… Hit me
AISHA! LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Black is beautiful…and we need to keep telling our babies how beautiful they are.
I loooove your hair; it looks fabulous. I’m inspired.
Awww both pics are soooo cute, and your hair is fabulous. We need to keep telling our babies (our girls & our boys) how beautiful they are, and keep them encouraged. Denene keep being that sexy momma that gives us other mommas what we need INSPIRATION…stay blessed!
PS I’m inspired…on my way to the chop shop now
I like your hair, I like your hair, I really, really, really like your hair. You inspired me to almost try it again! Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Black/Brown Women. We must keep on encouraging, inspiring and motivating our children to be themselves and be proud of who they are and all their wonderful characteristics. Yes say it loud and say it proud, YOU ALL ARE SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL!
Of course, I agree that every mom thinks her daughter is the most beautifulest (and mine really is), but I’ve been having some issues with my baby girl. See, she has pale skin, straight hair and light eyes, so I wonder if when folks say “oh, she’s so gorgeous!”, would they say the same thing if she was my complexion, with my hair texture, with my eye color?
I get offended when the first compliment out of peoples’ mouth is about her gray eyes. There is sooo much more to her than just her eye color, even at only ten weeks. Anyway, I’m rambling. But what I’m saying is I hear ya!
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