This morning I watched this little video.

This afternoon I asked two of my cuties The Question.

This one is nine.

 

This one is six.

When I asked my nine year old, she first said, ‘What would I change about my body? Um…nothing. Why would I change anything?’

When I asked my six year old (they were together at the time), she said, ‘I would have special night vision eyes’.

Her sister immediately changed her answer to ‘Oh! Well, I’ll have some superpowers then. Any sort of super powers.’

Around here, I never ever say things like:

My hair is too frizzy.
I’m not going to eat that cake. (who SAYS that?!)
I’m fat.
My skin is wrinkly.
*insert bad body image comment here*

At what point in our lives did we start changing our answers to a specific body part, do you think?  When we started trying to please other people?  When  we realized that the world doesn’t revolve around us and that there are other people in the world?  People who WANT to tell us what THEY think of us?  What THEY think is beautiful?  You know, kids feel like they are the center of everything.  I wonder if that’s why it never occurs to them to want to change part of their body?  They know their body is perfect how it is.    I want my girls to keep this thought in their little brains….their body, their mind, their thoughts, their SELF is perfect.  Right now.  This very second.  And forever.

I never want them to hear negative body talk around here. I want them to hear….

Your heart is sweet.
I love your giggle.
You’re a fast runner.
You’re a great reader.
I loved it when you did ____.
You are patient.
You are helpful.
Manners are beautiful and so are your freckles.

I want them to know that they are beautiful and that there’s nothing about their body that needs changing. Now or ever. Unless, that is, we can get some night vision and superpowers up in here.