A little girl from Michigan is teaching people all over the world about the power of positive affirmations.
In an adorably sweet video her mom shared on social media, the toddler is seen looking in the mirror and repeatedly telling herself, “I’m cute!”
The girl is Audrey Brackins and her mom is Jamie Rabaut of Mount Pleasant. Mom is heard on the video asking Audrey if she likes her outfit and reaffirming her “I’m cute! I’m cute!” exclamations, which later turn into “I’m cute and beautiful and smart!” as Audrey happily watches her reflection.
The video has been viewed by tens of thousands of people so far, Fox News reports.
In response to the surprising rush of interest in her video, Rabaut posted on Facebook sharing her appreciation along with some details that make the story even more “aww”-inspiring.
“I am blown away by the response and I’m just so happy to see how many people she’s made smile and even the awareness she’s brought to having confidence in ourselves and loving ourselves,” her mom wrote. “If you’ve never met Audrey, she really is the sweetest thing. She compliments people everywhere she goes … She radiates love and positivity and I love that that also reflects upon how she feels about herself.”
While Audrey’s sweet little voice alone is enough to melt anyone’s heart, many others are seeing the bigger message in the candid video, too. In a society where girls face pressure to live up to unachievable standards of beauty, sometimes a little positive self-talk goes a long way.
“This is amazing and it fills my heart,” user wakeup888 commented on a DailyMail story about the video. “This child is being raised to love herself and that means she won’t be looking for someone else to validate her, because she will validate herself.”
But not everyone thinks it’s quite so sugary sweet. Some say the girl’s focus on her appearance is a bad sign.
“This is ridiculous! Her mother is teaching her the worst values,” Babs commented on a People.com story.
But what could a one-minute snapshot of this girl’s life possibly say about the values with which she’s being raised?
From the looks of the video, she might have just tried on a new outfit and so the focus on her appearance would make total sense. Either way, she looks around 3 years old – a little bit young to be considered narcissistic. Kids this age are naturally self-centered, anyway, but this video doesn’t even put her in that category.
Of course our daughters need to grow up hearing more than just how “cute” they are. And this mom seems to do that even within this short video, telling Audrey she’s “smart” and “perfect” too. (Though we aren’t really supposed to call our kids “smart,” either, and I’m sure people would also question “perfect.”)
Parents just can’t win. But we already knew that. The video captures a light-hearted moment of a kid just being a kid and a sweet exchange between mom and daughter (note the “I love yous at the end). I say we just take this video for what it is: absolutely adorable.
Do you tell your kids how cute they are? Tell us in the comments.
