Mom, I was fat

are words that make me cringe every time my son says that to me. Which is maybe about once a year or so. However, it came up last week. Alexander told me that his girlfriend was looking through my pictures on Facebook and apparently she ran across one I had posted of Alexander when he was overweight. He told me that it embarrassed him. She didn't say anything about it but he still felt bad about her seeing it. I explained to him that I wished he wouldn't feel that way anymore. I explained to him that we will have many different bodies throughout our lives and we need to appreciate each one of them and learn to accept and work with it. Of course, that is easier said than done.

I have always tried to educate my children about taking care of the inside of their body. I feed them good, wholesome food, that I also eat. I encourage physical sports, I run and work out. I try to lead by example. I also do not make comments about how their body looks. I am very conscious about not putting them in a box, and limiting them to a "type" of body. We discuss strengths and weakness and how to improve on those. But sometimes I feel as if it doesn't matter when it comes to this topic and Alexander. I feel that other people made it so difficult for me to take care of my son. His "whole" self.  It made me so angry how people would talk about how overweight he was. I never saw him that way. He was indeed overweight, but I felt it was just a phase. I didn't understand how others didn't feel the same way. We were doing all the right things. There were still comments from people "trying" to be helpful. Especially the doctors...OMG they would piss me off. So judged, I was...right in front of my son.

This time he brought it up, I explained to him a problem you once had doesn't always have to be a weakness but a strength that you can share with others. I also explained to him that even though he was once teased and judged by others, the reason people treat him different now is because he walks with his head higher now  and with more confidence than he did back then and THAT can only come only from the inside.

He seemed satisfied, and happy about those words of encouragement. I know he will need to hear those words again in the future and I'll be ready. But, right now,  I am feeling very thankful that he was able to turn to me, and I towards him.


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