Teaching my kids confidence and body positivity.
Last week, my youngest approached me while getting ready for school and lifted up her shirt in the mirror and said, “Mom, I look bloated.” At that moment, I thought to myself, “My god…you have got to stop talking about your body, Johanna.” There I said it. I do all this work on the sidelines but the person who least appreciates it is…ME!
It’s a love/hate relationship that has been going on since I was eight. Ballet, puberty, supermodels…it’s really a perfect storm. Ridiculous, right? Yesterday I posted this message on IG. I still stand by it 24 hours later. I am probably way tougher on myself than the norm and now my kids are absorbing that which can only be one person’s fault. Mine.
Here’s what I am going to do. I am going to continue posting and taking pictures shamelessly on this blog because it shows my daughters that I am confident in my own skin…even if I have to fake it until I make it. I am going to continue to tell them how awesome their bodies are and how gorgeous they are because they need to hear that until they turn blue in the face. I am going to continue to eat foods that are good for my mind, body and soul and I am going to allow myself to live life and splurge on the weekends.
And more of all, I am going to stop body shaming my own body in front of them or my husband and appreciate the extraordinary strength that I have worked for because I know far too many people that don’t have their health and that’s probably the most shameful fact of this post. What I have is a gift.
I hope by opening up a little today and sharing this brief post it helps one person stop in their tracks and realize they are making the same mistake as I am and that we can’t teach others to love themselves until we also do the SAME.
I suppose acknowledging that you are work in progress is just as important as actually believing it.
It was a rainy April but I am all about a fashion challenge. Rounding up my favorite looks for events ranging from WFH to Easter to grabbing tacos with the fam. Need additional links? Lemme know and Happy May!