It's happening already

I know I haven't posted in awhile, so it probably isn't healthy to start off by venting, but I feel this is important. It's been in the headlines (No not politics) Girls and their self image issues. Molly is 7 and she completely stunned me. While getting ready for gymnastics, she was very upset because her leotard didn't have a skirt. At first I thought she was upset because Lolo's outfit had a skirt and hers did not. I finally got it out of her... the reason she wanted a skirt on her leotard??? "My legs are too fat right here!" Pointing at her thighs.

I was shocked, sad and a bit disappointed...in myself. Why would she think she is fat there? It can't possibly have anything to do with my own self insecurities. I'll just blame it on school, yeah someone at school must have taught her this, not me- right?! TV, it had to be on tv...

My Hubby and I have both been trying to watch what we eat and loose a few extra pounds here and there. It has been open conversation in our house. We have always talked about healthy food, vitamins and how they help make you strong and healthy. I even went as far as to tell them that "Yes, you should eat the crust on your sandwich, that's where all the vitamins are!" (I'm sure there are vitamins in the crust, it's not a complete fib) My children have so graciously pointed out that my tummy is still big, even though there isn't a baby in there- thanks girls! With so much focus on loosing weight being shoved down our throats today, did I really expect to not have this happen in my house? I have 4 girls after all, it was bound to come up. So what do I do about it?

I have decided that we are no longer going to discuss loosing weight in the house. We are going to focus on living healthy lives. That's it. I will continue to monitor what shows they watch, but I fully know that I can't possibly shield them from everything forever and would like them to know the difference between what media and society say are beautiful and what is actually healthy and beautiful.

I recently went to a seminar that addressed this and many other important issues in parenting. The speaker was Marybeth Hicks. She authored a book called 'Bringing up Geeks' and while I haven't read the book yet (that requires time to sit down) I highly recommend her and the topics that she speaks on. If you have the opportunity to hear her speak, get a babysitter and make it a date night- she's great!

What are we teaching our children and how can we make it better?