LuLu emerged from her bedroom this morning with lips coated in a rustic brown color. She has large, full lips and did look a great deal like a Brats doll.

“I look sexy!” she declared.

Rather than panic or even hint at disapproval, I’ve learned to respond to things like this with a simple question, “What does that mean?” If I react with shock to anything, it immediately cements that thing into LuLu’s brain, hardwiring it to be brought up over and over (usually at the most inappropriate times). So fear of LuLu proclaiming herself “sexy” at church, the grocery store and in front of relatives made me ask “What does that mean?” in a very non-chalant way.

“I don’t know,” was the reply, “but they say it on America’s Top Models all the time.”

So we explored what they could possibly mean by this on America’s Top Models.

“Well, they probably just mean that she looks really pretty,” LuLu suggested. “And when they strike a pose like this (she demonstrated) then they are sexy.”

“So, sexy is a good thing?” I asked.

“Yep, it means you’re pretty and you’re going to get to stay on the show another week.”

I’m glad I didn’t over-react and lock the word “sexy” into her vocabulary forever. Instead, I just commented, “I would think using the word pretty would be more accurate. I’d rather look pretty than sexy.”

“Me too,” LuLu admitted.

Now I suspect I’ll have to continue dealing with looking “sexy” and continue to monitor that LuLu doesn’t necessarily watch things like America’s Top Models (a stupid show that’s one of my teen’s favorites!) But for now, sexy means nothing more than pretty, and once I suggested that she did look like a Brats doll she immediately washed off the lipstick (since she thinks Brats dolls are “stupid”.)

The lesson here…and I try to remind myself daily…DO NOT PANIC! It usually makes things worse.

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