Celebrate Being You!
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a day where you could just celebrate being you? Well, someone out there thought so too and has registered May 22nd as International Being You Day! According to the founders of International Being You Day, the focus for the day is to:
To empower all of us to know that our dreams of what is possible are way more valuable than fitting in.
To invite everyone to embrace their unique capacities and get away from comparison and judgment as deciding factors for happiness.
To inspire all of us to use lightness, joy, and laughter as their guide to who they can choose to be, instead of all the should-and-should-nots of our age, race, cultures, and families.
We could all use a little bit of that in our lives! These are great goals to share with our kids as well, so here are some fun, light-hearted ways to bring a bit of self-love to everyone in the family:
Read Some Books
Reading books that talk about self-love is an approachable way to start this conversation with kids. There are so many great books out there, and it feels like in the last few years, there have been more books published that celebrate diversity and elevate different voices. We love that it’s easier for parents and teachers to find books that our kids can see themselves in and relate to. Some of our recent favorites are I Am Enough by Grace Byers, You Matter by Christian Robinson, and Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho.
Develop Some Self-Affirmations
It’s said that our thoughts become our reality, so practicing self-affirmations with our kids can be an easy way to help them develop thought patterns that can help when they come across difficult situations. For example, being able to draw on a practiced affirmation, like “I am worthy and loved” can be really comforting when/if they are being made fun of at school. Again, books are a wonderful way to introduce this topic, and we love I Believe I Can by Grace Byers and I Can Do Hard Things by Gabi Garcia for learning about self-affirmations. Afterwards, come up with a few you want to adopt as with your kids and include them as part of your morning or goodnight routine to help the habit stick!
Do a Favorite Activity Together
Let your child take the lead and spend some time doing something they love (and make sure you put your phone away!). If it’s an activity they already love doing, they’re probably pretty good at it, so there’s their built-in confidence boost. When you let them guide the activity, it shows that you’re interested in their ideas, which builds self-worth. Plus, the quality time spent together will help your relationship grow and allow them to see themselves as deserving of love.
Here's hoping International Being You Day takes off (it was just founded in 2021), because we could all use a reminder that whoever we are, is pretty awesome!