A mother on TikTok shared a heartfelt moment when her 9-year-old daughter opened up about her self-image concerns, wondering about her appearance as she grows up. The story was a wonderful example of a mother delicately dealing with an issue that far too many young women face. It was also a difficult moment because the conversation brought up the mother’s body issues as well.
The conversation happened while the two were clothes shopping at Target. “My 9-year-old’s saying she’s fat, and this is because she has to wear adult sizes versus kids ’cause she’s really tall, just like me,” Mackenzie Waddell told her 222,000 followers.
“She kept calling herself ‘fat’ and that she had too big of a butt and that the other kids her age don’t have to wear adult clothes,” Waddell continued. “I reminded her that I, too, had to wear adult clothes when I was her age ’cause I was really tall just like she is.”
@missmommymack Im so devastated that she feels that way about herself. 💔
The discussion led to a question that was hard for the mother to hear.
“… she asked me if she was gonna look like me when she grew up. And I asked her, ‘Do you mean big like me? When you grow up?’ And she said, ‘Yes. I’m not trying to be mean mom, but I want to look like Aunt Sarah, not you,’” she recalled.
Her daughter’s remarks hit her right in the heart, but she responded with perfect composure. “I kept a brave face and said, ‘As long as you are happy and healthy, and you love yourself, that’s all that matters. No matter what size you are,” Waddell said.
The mother was sure not to take it personally, but it still cut close to the bone. “And was I hurt? Yeah, I was. But she didn’t mean to hurt me. It just really sucked. Yeah,” she concluded.
The post went viral, receiving over 1.7 million views and over 2,000 comments. The most popular commenter thought that Waddell should tell her daughter to avoid commenting on people’s weight.
“You should tell her she hurt your feelings. She needs to know. You did a great job supporting her in how she feels. She has to learn that skill also,” Char8201 wrote.
However, many women responded with nothing but love for how Waddell handled such a challenging situation. “You responded beautifully, momma. She’s still learning and these are the moments where we provide that guidance, even when it hurts,” Mavv13 wrote. “Oh mama. Thank god she feels comfortable to talk to you openly,” tirrelltribe added.
After the tremendous response to her video, Waddell responded with another post, educating people about how one’s weight doesn’t necessarily mean they eat unhealthy. “A lot of people like to assume that plus-size people don’t know how to eat healthy or are unhealthy. When, in fact, we’re not,” Waddle said.
She added that her daughter lives a healthy lifestyle but avoids having conversations about weight with her because “That’s what traumatized me.”
@missmommymack Replying to @user3838812846970 she will always be perfect, no matter what.