There are three things I will never say about myself in front of my girls:

I am fat.

I am ugly.

I hate the way I look.

We all have bad days when we hate something about ourselves, but I will not teach my girls to worry about their weight or looks. The beauty I see in them runs much deeper than their skin. A girl who loves herself glows in a way that all the make-up and diet pills can never begin to compete with. So when I was changing this morning and Leina looked at me and said, “mommy, your tummy is so pretty,” I did not correct her. I did not point out the streach marks, the gallbladder scars or the extra fat gigglying in the morning light. Instead, I patted by round belly and said, “oh, thank you Leina, I think it’s pretty too.”

Never. Never. Never.