The F Word

The other day, my 6 year old daughter asked me "mom, am I skinny or fat?".

Whoa. Stop the presses.

Is this happening already? She is only SIX years old. And in Kindergarten no less.

Now I will admit that I lovingly call her "skinny minnie" from time to time. For that, I just slapped myself on the wrist. Ouch. Shame on me for planting that word in her head.

Since opposites are logical, I'm guessing it didn't take much for her to get from the S word to the F word. Un-PC nicknames aside, I really hope she doesn't think of herself, or others, in terms of 'skinny' or 'fat'.

So, after she asks me this loaded question, many more questions race through my mind. Where is this coming from? Is she already worried about her self-image? Why does she think you must be one or the other? And most importantly, how do I answer this question?

Here's a recap of what followed:

ME: Does it matter if you are skinny or fat?

DAUGHTER: Well, I guess so.

[A silent pause as we both think things through a bit.]

DAUGHTER: I think I am skinny, but I don't know.

ME: What do you think is best, being skinny, being fat, or being healthy?

DAUGHTER: Ummmmm....being healthy?

ME: Yes. Being healthy is the absolute best thing to be. And how can we be healthy?

DAUGHTER: Eating our fruit and veggies.

ME: And exercising our bodies too. It keeps your muscles and your heart healthy and strong. Right?

DAUGHTER: Okay.

[Insert sigh of relief here.]

DAUGHTER: So, am I skinny or fat?

[Seriously?!? I thought I just dodged that bullet.]

ME: You are perfect. What matters is that you are...

...then I go on to list a million and one great things about her, all of which have nothing to do with her weight or how she looks.

Unfortunately, this is only the beginning. The older she gets, the more her innocence gets exposed to the world, and the harder we have to work at keeping her sweet.

And smart.

And self assured.

And all those OTHER "S" words.