The way we view our own bodies as well as other people's bodies can be ingrained in us from an early age — and that's why this mom is making an effort to instill more body-positivity in her daughter.
Allison Kimmey was laying at the pool with her daughter when her daughter turned to ask about her "tummy." On Monday, Kimmey posted a photo of herself and her daughter along with a story about what happened at the pool.
"Why is your tummy big mama?" her daughter had asked. When Kimmey asked what she meant, her daughter pointed to the "lines" on her stomach.
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"Oh those are my stretch marks!" she told her daughter, who of course wondered where they came from.
"Well when I was a little older than you, I got some stripes when I grew really fast!" Kimmey explained. "And some of these stripes are from when I had you growing in my tummy."
She also posted the rest of the exchange between herself and her daughter:
Me: "They are shiny and sparkly, aren't they pretty?"
Her: "yes, I like this one the best, it's so glittery. When can I get some?"
Me: "oh you will get your glitter stripes when you get a little bit older baby!"
Her: "yes, I like this one the best, it's so glittery. When can I get some?"
Me: "oh you will get your glitter stripes when you get a little bit older baby!"
We love that Kimmey took the chance to teach her daughter how great it is to love your body as it is. After all, as she wrote on her Facebook post, "It matters how we talk to our daughters about our bodies."
"They are listening," she wrote. "They are asking. And it is up to YOU to help them shape how they will feel about these things! Will you continue the shame that society has placed on you? Or will you teach her a new way of love?"
Her message is an important reminder that criticizing our bodies can have an effect on others as well as ourselves. In particular, it's important for moms to understand that what they say about their own bodies can have a bearing on how their daughters see themselves.
"Talking to our children about our bodies is so critical," she wrote on her Instagram page. "The limiting beliefs we have now as adults were formed as children. Even if you aren't directly telling a child that they are fat or unworthy, by saying those things about yourself you have indirectly led them to believe it about themselves."