This 5-Year-Old Had The Perfect Response When A Friend Called Her 'Fat'
Allison Kimmey is proof that we can teach our daughters to love and accept their bodies
It’s a heartbreaking reality that women are judged every, single day based on nothing but their appearance. It’s even more heartbreaking when we consider that it’s going to happen to our kids, too.
But Allison Kimmey, who describes herself on her Facebook page as a “self love expert and body love advocate” has raised a daughter who had just the right reaction when a classmate told her she was fat.
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Kimmey posted a transcript of the exchange she had with her 5-year-old daughter, Cambelle, alongside a photo of the two of them rocking some floral print bathing suits at the beach, on her Facebook and Instagram pages. The conversation they had should inspire all of us to love our bodies and take judgement in stride, just like Cambelle did.
“Cambelle: ‘Mama I need to tell you something’
Me: ‘Okay baby, what’s up?’ C: ‘Yesterday at practice my shirt came up a little bit and my tummy was showing. The girl next to me looked at me and said that my tummy was fat.'”
Here, Kimmey wrote, “Insert immediate mama bear reaction in my head’s internal dialogue ‘Oh no, here we go’ I thought to myself.” But instead of raging, like she had every right to do, she waited to see what Cambelle had to say.
“I said: ‘Oh really? And what did you say to her?’
C: ‘I told her that I’m not fat, I HAVE fat. And that everybody has fat. And I told her it’s okay to have fat.”‘”
“Insert happy dance parenting win,” Kimmey wrote.
She continued,
“Wow Cambelle! I am SO proud of you for the way you handled that situation. Fat is not a bad word, I don’t think she was trying to hurt your feelings. It was so brave of you to help her understand that all people have fat, but that no one IS fat. And that it doesn’t make you a bad person if you have more or less of it. Did she have anything to say?
C: ‘She just said ‘oh, okay””
“I couldn’t believe that my 5 year old daughter had been able to handle a situation with more grace than most 30 year olds,” Kimmey wrote. Then, she described possibly the most heartwarming part of the entire interaction.
“C: ‘Remember that time I told you that you were fat?’
Me: ‘Yes baby, I do.’ C: ‘I’m sorry I did that’ Me: ‘It’s okay baby, the most important thing is that you learned and now you can teach others and help change the world.'”
It’s no wonder Cambelle has such a positive image of her body — her mom is all about body positivity and self love.
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With that example to follow, Cambelle was bound to love her body and herself.
As Kimmey put it, “Children aren’t born with hate inside them. They learn words from their environments and the things they see/hear, and they try them on for size. I can’t prepare my daughter for all of life’s situations, but I can help her to be a voice of compassion, humility and love.”
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She also had a quick message for the inevitable haters that will crop up online.
“And to anyone that will undoubtedly say that this is ‘promoting obesity,’ please understand that preventing childhood bullying before it can even start is not a matter of weight, but of character,” she wrote.
Keep teaching that girl how to love and accept herself — it’s a lesson we all need.
