After a classmate called her fat, a 5-year-old’s response was incredibly moving.
Remaining confident and loving yourself – and your body – is not an easy task. Most agree the task poses even more challenges for women. You, unfortunately, live in a world crammed with messages of what the “perfect” woman looks like and how much she should weigh.
As challenging as it is for a woman to remain positive about her body, a mother raising a daughter in this world is even harder. On her Instagram profile, Allison Kimmey – mother of two – describes herself as a self-love author and speaker and a plus-size fashion lover. Affectionally nicknamed as Allie, this mom dedicates her life to encouraging people to send the right message about loving their own bodies.
Allison also takes great pride in raising her two body-positive children.
Allie was shaken up when her 5-year-old daughter came home and revealed another child called her fat.
Now, most mothers in this situation would quickly unleash their inner mama bears. Mothers in this situation would charge to the school and demand justice for their child. Allie, however, found herself in a unique situation where she did not have to protect her daughter. Turns out, her dedication to raising her children to be body-positive paid off. Her 5-year-old knew exactly how to handle someone calling her fat – and people cannot stop talking about it.
Allie shared her daughter’s response to her classmate on Instagram, and it went viral.
In a post featuring her and her daughter in bathing suits, she captioned the photo with the story of what happened.
“Cambelle: Mama I need to tell you something.
Me: Okay baby, what’s up?
C: Yesterday at practice my shirt came up a little bit and my tummy was showing. The girl next to me looked at me and said that my tummy was fat.
>>Insert immediate mama bear reaction in my head’s internal dialogue ‘Oh no, here we go’ I thought to myself<<, but I said: ‘Oh really? And what did you say to her?’
C: I told her that I’m not fat, I HAVE fat. And that everybody has fat. And I told her it’s okay to have fat.
>>Insert happy dance parenting win<<: Wow Cambelle! I am SO proud of you for the way you handled that situation. Fat is not a bad word, I don’t think she was trying to hurt your feelings. It was so brave of you to help her understand that all people have fat, but that no one IS fat. And that it doesn’t make you a bad person if you have more or less of it. Did she have anything to say?
C: She just said ‘oh, okay’”
Allison also noted she “couldn’t believe” her 5-year-old handled the situation “with more grace than most 30-year-olds.”
Allie also shared another conversation she had with her daughter.
“C: Remember that time I told you that you were fat?
Me: Yes baby, I do.
C: I’m sorry I did that
Me: It’s okay baby, the most important thing is that you learned and now you can teach others and help change the world.”
Allison ended the post with her final thoughts on what happened between her daughter and her daughter’s classmate.
“Children aren’t born with hate inside them. They learn words from their environments and the things they see/hear, and they try them on for size. I can’t prepare my daughter for all of life’s situations, but I can help her to be a voice of compassion, humility and love. * And to anyone that will undoubtedly say that this is ‘promoting obesity,’ please understand that preventing childhood bullying before it can even start is not a matter of weight, but of character.”
For the most part, people responded to the post in a positive manner.
Many congratulated Allison on doing such a great job raising her children. Some admitted to “loving the post.” One Instagram user admitted to tearing up while reading it.
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