Mom Finds Seven-Year-Old's List Of Her Secret 'Diyet'
It is my unscientific guess that every mother of girls fears the weight issue.
Not that their daughters are putting on too much weight -- but that at the back of their minds a little voice telling our sweet daughters that they aren't good enough. We worry that our daughters are starting on a lifelong journey of worrying about their bodies and their food.
And many of them are.
A mom in Australia found a list that her daughter was keeping about her "diyet". Her daughter is only seven, the same age as my own daughter. The girl's misspellings would be adorable, but instead make the list even more heartbreaking. The girl does "pooshups" and is allowed to eat "appals" and "yoget".
"I felt sick. Physically ill. Like someone had knocked the air from my chest. I am smart about this stuff. I have a degree in early childhood studies. Our family focuses on and promotes healthy eating and healthy bodies. Our attitudes are reasonable and balanced. Weight has never been an issue in our home – it is, for the most part, irrelevant."
And then she turned on society:
F*ck you society. F*ck you and your and stupid obsession with women and the way they look.
How dare you sneak into my home with your ridiculous standards and embed them in my little girl's head, polluting her innocence with your pathetic ideals.
After a heart-to-heart she found out that her daughter learned about a diet from her grade school friend who was on one. For this mother, and for all of us mothers of girls, this is just the start of the conversation about healthy, strong bodies. About feeling good for yourself and not for society. For example, the girls on the shows Shake It Up and Good Luck Charlie seem to be disappearing before eyes and becoming human bobbleheads. Is it my job to point out that they are so skinny it's not healthy? Or do I not mention weight at all?
Magazines at the grocery store scream about weight to us. The top stories on US Weekly, and Daily Mail sites all have to do with celebrity weight. Our girls deserve to grow up in a world that treats them better. But first we have to stop and look at what we are doing to perpetuate it.
Because what we do know (thanks to a Florida study) that half of girls between the ages of three and six do think about their weight and worry that they are "too fat to be a princess."
I try and emphasize that my daughter's body is strong and beautiful. I never discuss my weight or ask my anyone if I look fat in something. I tell her that her smile is beautiful and the most important thing about her is her brain, her attitude and how she treats people. Is it enough? Who knows when one of her friends could be on a "diyet" too.
How do you talk to girls about weight?
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