Buy Walking VideosPostSecret: Fat Kids, Bad Mom
This postcard from PostSecret showed up last week.
I am continually fascinated at how judgmental mothers are. From potty training to discipline to eating, it seems that mothers are eager to judge each other with ferocity. Since I’ve never had children, I don’t find myself judging other women in this manner, so I can watch it from the outside.
If a child is fat, are the parents to blame?
That’s an interesting question. If a child is tall, are the parents to blame? I wonder why we are so willing to blame the parents with one direction of growth and not the other.
PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 6:38 am
I think this goes to eating habits and available foods for the kids. It is too easy to let the kids have a bag of chips, soda and sit down and watch tv. Bad Mom. maybe, but she could be too busy or most likely lazy. I do not judge either, but it is tough not to say something when you see kids lunches brought to school. Too much JUNK food and no veggies and fruit.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:16 am
My aunt and uncle weren’t planning on having a child, neither of them had any desire to have one at all. Good for them, it’s their choice, whatever. But a bit of an oops happened and 9 months later they had a baby boy.
When he was a toddler they’d put soda in his bottles and feed him nothing but sweets, he was overweight then and continues to be now that he’s 17 years old. He has horrible self esteem issues because his parents talk about him badly in front of others constantly (How he’s not outgoing, how he doesn’t do well in school, how he doesn’t do anything but play video games and watch tv).
They were both very career-minded and his babysitter was the television, he’d come home from school, they’d be at work until 6, 7…8 at night and he’d watch tv, eat junk from the fridge, and put himself to bed.
Sure we all have to take responsibility for our own actions, but we’re also products of our environments to an extent and he had no chance from the start. Don’t get me wrong, he’s sharp as a tack and wants to get into architecture in college, which he’d be wonderful at and enjoy, but his body image and self-esteem are going to continue to be shot until he graduates and gets out of the house.
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
The story about the parents who used tv as a baby sitter made me sad Sometimes it’s genetic sometimes it’s because of either too strict or too lax of eating And sometimes it’s an unseen traumatic event that has nothing to do with the parents Unless we know the situation of the family we don’t know
May 5th, 2008 at 5:14 am
Sometimes we don’t know – but sometimes it’s painfully obvious. Go to the supermarket and just watch. As my weight loss journey progresses (22 lbs since Jan 1), I find myself fascinated by the things other people buy at the market. More soda that you can shake a stick at, cookies, chips, candy – not a piece of fruit or vegetable in stock. The icing on the cake is a 24 pack of diet Coke and a stack of Lean Cuisine frozen entrees.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:15 am
that should read “not a piece of fruit or vegetable in sight.”
Clearly more coffee is needed.
November 5th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I don’t judge other mothers either, but sometimes it is the mothers fault. I agree with Jana, today there is just too much junk food around for the kids to eat. I’m lucky in that my daughter likes fruit as a snack.
June 28th, 2009 at 8:01 am
You can’t determine your child’s height. But you can moniter their food. The mother and father are the chefs of the family. They take responsibility for their child’s health. It’s one thing if you kid is a little chubby. But if your child is obese, shame on you! You are setting that child up for a life of struggle with their weight.