I am so ANGRY and FRUSTRATED that my beautiful little girl is starting to feel that she is not beautiful. She told me today that she didn't want to wear the dress she wore today because her tummy is big. That breaks my heart and I don't know how to manage that kind of situation. She is such a beautiful girl! We don't ever say diet, we eat foods because they are good for us, not because they make us skinny. We want to be healthy, not skinny. I don't complain about my figure in front of her (I rarely complain about my figure at all, what's the point?) I'm careful about wording things around my girls and don't criticize physical attributes of anyone. I want them to grow up with a great self-esteem and to love who God made them to be. I tell her that she is "fearfully and wonderfully made" and we tell her all the time that she is beautiful. I HATE those Nutrisystem commercials and change the channel every time they come on, even if she's not in the room. I do everything I can to make sure she knows that she is a beautiful girl inside and out. I hope she's not getting this from her friends at school or church. It is very common in the hispanic culture to give nicknames based on physical attributes that we as americans would probably find offensive. My father-in-law calls my husband el negrito because he is the darkest skinned of all his children. I get called la chele (white girl), my bro.-in-law el chino because his eyes are a little slanted. Its not meant to be mean, just stating the obvious. Yet if you've ever watched the spanish-language channels, they have more infomercials for weight-loss than I have ever seen and a couple of the moms at church are pushy on their pudgy daughters. My heart aches for them. I was a teenager who constantly heard that I was too big and when I think of how small I was then, I could scream. I don't want that for my little girl. I want her to know that she is beautiful and doesn't need to change anything. My heart just hurts at the thought that Our Princess is unhappy. I hope it was just a innocent observation and I am blowing this out of proportion, but what if it's not? A five-year-old shouldn't have to worry about her size. Sometimes I really hate this society that we live in...
Isn't she the most beautiful little girl in the world?
I agree. That's pretty heartbreaking... and it would make me angry. It's not like you can isolate where those ideas or influences are coming from, either. unfortunately, we all, including our kids, are bombarded on every side. Just pray that the Holy Spirit will convince her of her worth asap. It's a lesson HE must teach her or it will never stick anyway.
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