When Do We Stop Loving Ourselves Unconditionally?

I spend most, if not all, of my time gratefully by my beautiful daughters side. I have gotten to know every little bone in her body. I can practically predict her every move. She is two. She is curious and patient but eager. She is smart and silly and has a sense of humor already. She laughs at herself almost every day for falling down or dropping a toy on her foot or spilling juice on her pretty dresses she loves to wear. She is a girl that knows what she wants. At that, she is so incredibly stubborn. She sings all day long and instead of dancing, she gallops around. She is all girl and loves to load on the pretty necklaces and bracelets, rings, and headbands. She is independent. Too independent. High chairs? Forget them, Mom. I'm a big girl so I sit in a big girl chair. No booster chairs for this big girl either, don't even try it. She loves her dog, Leonard. She is so gentle with him and I swear they have little conversations in a language I can't understand because my mind has been tainted by life experience. 

But my favorite thing to watch my daughter do is look at herself in the mirror. I could do it all day. I want to bottle up every ounce of how proud she feels when she looks at herself and save it for her when the world tells her to feel otherwise. 

When is it that we allow the world to destroy our self image? When do we start doing that to other people? Is it human nature or is that level of self confidence something we can preserve if we try really, really hard? 

I read the book "The Help." a while back when I was pregnant and I vowed to tell Emma every day in one way or another "You are kind. Your are smart. You are important." I want her to value herself from the inside out. I want her to focus on the person she is inside, rather than the beauty she has or maybe some day doesn't have. *for the record I will always find her as beautiful as she is today* 

But while I sit and watch her in awe looking at herself in the mirror with such wonder, I sort of envy her. I try to think back to when I started comparing myself to other people. When did I start thinking that if I lacked a certain quality that another person had that it excluded all of my other great qualities? 

Maybe as Mom's we can work harder than we already do at making sure our daughters always feel like they have something special to give this world. By making sure to highlight all of their great characteristics every.single.day. I don't think it's ever too early. I can't even believe how impressionable Emma is already. The person she is going to be is already being shaped today. Maybe if I work really, really hard to stop comparing myself to other moms, and wife's (almost there ;)), and students -- and really, really hard to highlight my great qualities as a mom, and (almost) wife, and student every.single.day -- and really, really hard to smile at myself in the mirror instead of picking apart my body piece by piece and frowning when I (once again) don't feel good in the thirteenth outfit I have tried on today-- Maybe by being proud of who I am inside and out, I think it is a little bit more fair to expect the same from my daughter.