Mya lost her third tooth last night. It had been dangling by a thread the whole week, and she had been whining and wincing every time I'd place anything harder than chocolate pudding in front of her, but she finally got brave enough and let Tim tug on it. It came out in less than 5 seconds.

Before it came out and in the midst of her obvious personal struggle as to whether or not she should allow Tim to take it out, she exclaimed, "I don't want to take it out. I don't want to look weird." In that moment I saw my 6 year old a little differently. I realized how much she analyzes things and how much she wants to be the best--even physically--at all times. Both Tim and I relaxed her fears and reminded her how beautiful she was, and we told her that she would always be beautiful, even in her awkward phases.

In that moment, it also occurred to me how careful I need to be about being kind in what I say about my body. She listens to everything I say. EVERYTHING. And she repeats 90% of it--for better or for worse. So I need to be sensitive to how I refer to my weak areas and help her realize that no matter if we are trying to improve ourselves, we are always beautiful.

Oh the lessons I continue to learn. They are endless.