I feel pretty, oh so pretty

Ellie created this new hairstyle for herself where she pulled her hair back all around her face and had me pin it back with bobby pins and then braid it. She loves it and she stared at herself in the mirror for a long time and then decided to put on her prettiest dress and her prettiest necklace and bracelet. We went out and she kept talking about how everyone was going to think she is so pretty and then she said, "I'm prettier than other girls." So of course I bristled at that and I went on this biiiiig lecture about how it's fun to dress up and make your hair pretty but that's being pretty on the outside and being pretty on the outside isn't very important. What's important is being pretty on the inside, which means being kind to others and respectful and using your good manners and helping people and treating people the way you would want to be treated. I even said that the prettier you are on the inside, the prettier people will think you are on the outside. I said, "Understand?" And she said, "Mommy, I wasn't listening to you on accident."

I said, "Forget it. You'll figure it out."