"Maya, you have to help pick up too! You're just sitting there! The sun doesn't shine on only you, ya know!"
"Yes, it does. See....my skin is darker than yours....so the sun shines on me more."
From the other room, I smiled. Half a second later, I cringed.
Because, see, Miss Maya does believe the world revolves around her - and not just in that general way every kid thinks it. She genuinely believes she is (or should be) the center of everyone's universe. And, I worry that I'm not doing enough to curb that misconception.
Are some kids just born with insanely large egos? Maya is stunningly gorgeous, smart, hilarious, and caring. But I try not to over-emphasize any of those traits. Specifically, lately, I find myself not telling her how pretty she is because I don't want her to lean on that. I know too many girls who grew up only being "the pretty one". Know what happens? They become really ugly on the inside. I imagine that, if all you hear your whole life is how beautiful your packaging is, you think having beauty on the inside is irrelevant.
So, I don't tell Maya every day how her face stops me in my tracks whenever she rounds the corner. Instead, I tell her how impressed I am that she got all of her spelling words right. I no longer point out how most people wish they had skin like hers. But I give out high-fives galore for reading a book from cover to cover. Yet she still begs me to take a picture of her whenever she strikes a pose. And, she seems completely flabbergasted that someone wouldn't compliment her on each new outfit.
My youngest child truly seems to have been born with an ego too big for her tiny neck to hold up. And, I worry she'll become one of those girls that no one likes - not because she's too beautiful, but because she knows she is.
"Maya, that's ridiculous. The sun revolves around the earth. Not you."
"I know that, Sofia. You're not the only smart one. I'm just saying it likes me better cuz you're so mean."
"Whatever. Just pick up or I'm telling mama."
The room never did get picked up, by the way. Sofia gave up, Eva fell asleep, and Maya had to read me one more book... About a fancy girl no one understood.
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