A friend of my second grade daughter was over the other day. She’s a lovely, sweet girl, who I know quite well and really like. We were sitting around the kitchen counter, and as I was cleaning up I heard ‘Erica’ ask Emily, ‘how much do you weigh?’ I literally gasped a sharp breath in, my head spinning like a top, feeling light headed and panicky. My daughter replied, ‘uh…I don’t know…I was at the doctor’s the other day….54?’
FIFTY FOUR, people!! 54 pounds. Am I being punk’d?!? I mean, I get the whole middle school thing where girls start to compare and freak about stuff like makeup and how they look. But WTF? Second grade?
And I just froze, like an idiot…not sure what I should’ve done. I think I just shoved some snack in their faces, probably adding to the neurosis for all of us.
Ahhhhhrrrrgggg….
Help! Thoughts?!? What would you have done?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, I probably would have froze too, but hindsight being 20/20 and all that… I would have asked her why she wanted to know. It could have been a very innocent question. Maybe she meant to ask was how tall your daughter is. Is she tall enough to get on the good rides at the amusement parks? But if she meant weight, the adult response should be to tell them that it isn’t about how much you weigh, but how good you feel about yourself and whether you lead a healthy lifestyle.
Stunned. And so happy that you’re going through this before I am!