Little Person Lesson #1

Anyone who knows me well knows of my constant struggle with self esteem. I have always thought I am too pale, too many freckles and too tall. It all stems from childhood teasing, bullying and my natural tendency to be super sensitive. Yes, I know, interesting that I work in a incredibly superficial industry and that the focus of my business as a stylist is to show women that they can feel better about themselves when when they look their best. Just add that to the laundry list of contradictions that are Megan Kristel. There is a lot of "those who can't do, teach" happening here.

My appreciation for my own self definitely saw an upswing after the birth of my first baby, Maddie, almost three years ago. Aside from being highly impressed with myself - a whole 9 months without a glass of wine, champagne or cocktail - I couldn't believe I created a person. Me, the girl who for the longest time thought I was good for very little, made a person, who was perfect in every way. And she needed me, not just for her survival but to teach her how to be a woman which meant I needed to grow up and start acting like the women she knew I could be. I had to ditch the whole, "oh, poor me, I feel so bad about myself" nonsense I use to pull. Being a mom is more than diaper changes and play dates. It dawned on me that it was my responsibility to show her how to navigate the world with class and leave some kind of impact.

The lessons found in motherhood are powerful. The saying, "they teach us more than we teach them" is true. Maddie, like me, is very tall. It use to make me crazy when people would comment on how tall she was, or think she was older than 3 because of her height. I didn't want to make an issue of it, because I had always been so insecure about it myself. But I realized, the more I tried to make it a non issue, the more of an issue it was becoming. I was projecting my own insecurity about my height on this little girl who didn't think anything of it. That was a big moment of clarity. This isn't about me and I need to get over myself, fast.

In this clarity came a very practical lesson. What could I do about my own height? Nothing. So why was I always trying to fight it, wear flats and slouch down? Would I want Maddie to do that? Absolutely not. I would tell her to stand tall, feel beautiful and let everyone envy her supermodel stature. Maybe I could do the same? So I did, and I now take pleasure in my stature, I wear my high heels and love it. It makes me think back to when I was 16 and desperate for a date to one of my high school formals. I really only ever wanted a guy to be taller than me and when I (finally) met him, I married him :)

So the lesson here is that these kids were given to us to help us become our best selves, whoever that may be. I may be rocking an LV and a fab pair of shoes but these material things mean very little when you don't feel great about who you are on the inside. I thank little Maddie Kristel for that every day.