Entry #4- Lovely Ladies

I babysit for a family with three kids. The oldest is 4 and is the grandest of ladies you'll ever meet. As dramatic as can be and with an attitude to match, but as lovely and endearing as little girls come:) The very definition of 'like a refreshing breeze on a hot day'.


The other day while I was there she was prancing around in a long, puffy dress, bright and floral with crinoline underneath to give it extra flare, a party dress for sure. Not something to wear around the house on an average day.
I, in all my wisdom and skepticism about when and where dresses are appropriate, asked her what the occasion was for such a pretty dress. Flicking back her matted, unbrushed long hair that was still recovering from a recent personal attempt at a cut, she said very matter-of-factly: "because it's pretty, and I like being pretty."
Simple as that and off she went prancing around and picking her nose


Of course, I laughed at the reaction but I've been thinking of it all week. One of our neighbours is a sweet elderly lady who lives alone in the same house she's been in for over 50 years. She's still quite active and involved and always asks me to stop in if I'm walking by for a chat. She was out walking to the bus stop and stopped to say hello.
She was awfully dolled up as well and looking pretty darn good and I told her so, her whole face lit up as if she were 16 and she waved her hand and said "ooh well, you know, just out to run some errands" (to Cherryhill mall, watering hole of the African plains for elderly people:)


Anyway, this all has just made me smile. Who doesn't want to be pretty? I've always had trouble admitting that to myself. Girls these days go to extreme measures to be 'pretty' and I've never wanted anything to do with that scene just because of their often very needy attempts (you know what I mean) But when it comes down to it, even when there's no one around to impress, we still want to be pretty. And we don't have to have  reason to!


At 9 months pregnant, it becomes very difficult to feel pretty (whatever those la-de-da womens rights whatchtamacallit women say about how pregnancy is BEAUUUUUUTIFUL, let's be honest, it isn't always:)
but when I look at it through the eyes of these two ladies I've mentioned, I realize, feeling beautiful is just being beautiful. Without even looking in a mirror one can feel just lovely. Whether it's by wearing a dress you think is gorgeous when you know most would think it's drop dead uggo or at a wrong time

Feeling all hyped up on these romantic notions, I tried a dress on, but that really didn't do it for me. Hah:) So instead, I BRUSHED MY HAIR. 
A very big no-no for someone with hair like mine. 
BUT! Perhaps it's from too many old shows about girls brushing their hair 100 strokes before bed each night (Road to Avonlea for one) to make it look beautiful or just that it feels nice, THAT made me feel awful pretty. 
I didn't even look in the mirror to see the damage *(poof)* 


Anyway...I don't really have an inspirational quote here worthy of 'Chicken Soup for the Soul'. But! Hey, stop being silly if you have a hard time feeling pretty. Usually the only reason we don't feel pretty is because of expectations of others (oooh, think about it hard enough, you'll realize I'm right) instead, relax, stop looking in the mirror and looking at those dumb magazines and the latest 'fashions' on the streets of 18-year-old girls and just enjoy things that you think are pretty for no reason at all.
You'd be surprised at the results that you'll never know about :)