Children and body image...

Have you ever noticed that children get away with A LOT when it comes to sharing their perceptions of people? I thought about that again today as my 4 year old daughter commented, once again, on the size of my behind.

We don't focus on body image in our house. I try not to share my feelings about what I look like in front of my girls (3 months postpartum is not exactly the best time to look at yourself in the mirror and comment on your size). I don't want them to ever feel like they aren't wonderful the way they are... no matter their body shape and size. So, when my girls point things out, I try to "laugh it off" as much as possible and not react. But sometimes it is HARD! For example...

Madeleine--"Mama, elephants are ENORMOUS! Almost as big as your buns!"
Mama--I'm thinking, can she really think my buns are THAT big?

However, sometimes they can make me feel a little better about myself, too. For example...

Madeleine--"Mama, your pants are falling off your big buns."
Mama--"Is that right?"
Madeleine-- "Yes, I think your buns are getting too small for your pants. It's time to get new pants that are smaller. I don't want to see your big buns when they fall off of you."

My little girl is brutally honest. I am not willing to share with the world some of the other things she says about my "big buns," but they are pretty comical when you get past the initial shock of her observations. I hope that as her buns grow (at 3 feet tall and 29 pounds, her buns aren't very big) she'll stop calling my buns "big," but if not, I'm going to continue to try to have a sense of humor about it. At the very least, not focus on it.

I love her innocence and the fact that she is unaware of the pressures our society places on women to look a certain way (Don't get me started! There will NEVER be a Barbie doll in our house if that tells you something about my feelings on this issue.). And I hope it stays that way! But I could live without all the comments about my "big buns." They really aren't even close to the size of an elephant...I promise!