Interestingly, she observes that unusally physically attractive preschoolers are in the same boat.
I get that. DD actually gets a lot more attention for her appearance (i.e., blonde curls). I consider myself (and herself) fortunate that she's got other unusual features that sometimes garner ambivalent or even negative comments. Once a woman in the grocery store saw her, froze, stared for a minute, and then said, "That face works." Uhhh...thanks?
The lady in the grocery store was gushing over my dd3. She actually said to her "I bet it's difficult for your mommy to get mad at you." I just said "oh, you'd be surprised." She really is very pretty and we get constant stares. Sometimes I just want to say, "you think she's cute, you should see how smart she is" but I resist the temptation. Ironically dd3 dresses in boy clothes and is a total tomboy.
We have been fairly lucky with limited outside comments for DD's intellect since she has never been the type to show it in public. This is changing because she is getting more comfortable with the general public and is opening up more.
What we seem to have the most attention about and is just as damaging (IMHO) is her looks. DD is a gorgeous child. I have had comments since infancy through now about her and in front of her. Most of the time it is comments such as 'breath taking'; 'looks like a china doll'; 'gorgeous'; etc. We have even been approached for commercial work for local boutiques and major department stores. It is definitely not something we would consider.
My problem with this is my DD is very aware of her looks and all the comments she receives. She might conclude looks are more important than other traits. I haven't seen this yet, but it is my fear.
