A simple moment in Target reminded one mom of how important modeling body confidence is for our children. When Shelby Goodrich Eckard's three-year-old daughter wanted a new bikini for her swim lessons, the mom was more than happy to help her pick one out, ScaryMommy reports. But she hesitated when the little girl told her that it was her turn to buy a new bikini.
"A knot in my stomach, I told her, 'oh mommy can't wear a bikini to swim class, boo,'" Goodrich Eckard wrote in an Instagram post. "She looked up from the cart and asked, 'but why?'. . . Why? Seriously though, why couldn't I? I could. I just felt uncomfortable. Observed. Exposed. A bit like I'd embarrass her. But all of those sounded selfish in the moment, so I said, 'you know what? You're right. Let's get mommy a bikini.'"
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If the pictures are any indication, Goodrich Eckard loves her new bikini. She says in the post that she and her daughter "rushed home," put on their bikinis, and were "excited about how we'd be mermaids tomorrow."
While it could have been a throw-away moment between a mother and daughter, Goodrich Eckard — who has a presence in the body positive movement as a support system for women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) — sees it as another reminder of the importance of positive body image.
As a woman with PCOS, a condition that often causes weight gain as well as excess hair and oily, acne-prone skin, Goodrich Eckard slowly realized that rather than obsessing over her weight, she should love her body as is.
"It was a series of moments when I realized I have to break the cycle of hating my body — for myself and my sanity — but more so for my daughter," she tells Refinery29. She's been a size 2 and she's been a size 22, and has hated her body at every size. She doesn't want her daughter to go through that as well, and realizes that the small moments like the one they had in the swimsuit section can influence how a young girl views her body.
"She is learning, every day, from me just how to view her OWN body," she wrote. "I don't want to teach her to put limitations on what clothes she can wear or to worry about what others will think. I certainly want her to see her body as unique and wonderful and to be kind to it. I want her to always stay the brave, bold blonde little girl who knows exactly what she wants and exactly how beautiful and strong she is. The same little girl I used to be, before life and society taught me I shouldn't be."
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