Be a role model for healthy self-esteem

It’s 8:45 p.m. (45 minutes past bedtime), and I’m sitting by the bedside of Abby, my 5-year-old, trying to comfort her. She’s crying.

 “I’m not perfect!” she sobs at me. “I have an ugly face, and I always do bad stuff!” 

My heart is breaking. A flood of emotions and questions clouds my thoughts as I try to figure out what to say to her. I just want to make her believe that she is beautiful, smart and loved unconditionally.

I’m confused. Where is this coming from?  Why does she feel this way? I mentioned that she’s only 5 years old, right!? 

I’m angry. Someone must have told her she was ugly or bad, but I’m not going to let them get away with it! 

Wait. Did I do something? Have I done something to make her feel this way?  Am I failing as a parent? 

Is this child overweight?

My son told me a story about a new program at school last year where he had to get on a scale in front of his entire class because his BMI was being measured.  I asked him if it the weighing in occurred away from other children in a semi-private area, and he told me that it did not.  He mentioned to me that when he stepped on the scale, other children made fun of him because he weighed more than most children in his class. My son was teased because of his weight. 

Now, this weigh-in obviously leads somewhere.  At the end of school year, my son was handed a sheet of paper with statistics for his physical fitness comparing the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year.  It compared sit ups, pulls ups, running, and lastly, BMI.  BMI? Wait, what?!