This mother’s response to her daughter calling her “fat” is a lesson we all need to learn
A mom’s powerful lesson to her children about fat shaming is going viral.
Allison Kimmey posted a photo to Instagram to explain the conversation she had with her children after her daughter, who was angry she and her brother needed to get out of the pool, called Kimmey fat.
Kimmey could have reacted any number of ways, but used the moment to teach her children that “fat” is not a bad word.
"The truth is, I am not fat," she told them. "No one IS fat. It's not something you can BE. But I do HAVE fat. We ALL have fat. It protects our muscles and our bones and keeps our bodies going by providing us energy."
In explaining to her children that fat is a normal part of the body, instead of a body type to feel ashamed of, she taught them a powerful lesson about society’s perception of weight – and how to treat others with kindness and respect.
"Fat is not a bad word in our house. If I shame my children for saying it then I am proving that it is an insulting word and I continue the stigma that being fat is unworthy, gross, comical and undesirable," she explained in her viral Instagram post. "Our children are fed ideas from every angle, you have to understand that that WILL happen: at a friends house whose parents have different values, watching a tv show or movie, overhearing someone at school- ideas about body image are already filtering through their minds. It is our job to continue to be the loudest, most accepting, positive and CONSISTENT voice they hear. So that it can rise above the rest."
We applaud Allison’s powerful message.
