Feeling Beautiful Starts In Childhood

As children, we all learned a lot of important lessons. Much of how we see the world is connected to the experiences that we had as small children. We learned from various situations how to react and what to think and feel. Many of the attitudes and opinions that we carry around with us came from our parents.

Now that many of us are parents ourselves, it's time to start thinking about that powerful parental influence and what we might be teaching our children about how to see themselves. Your opinions and attitudes about what makes someone beautiful are probably rubbing off on your children all the time. Kids listen to the things you say about others, and they are likely to eventually adopt those same attitudes.

You might think that making fun of others is relatively harmless, but you might not understand how your children will perceive your actions. They may become preoccupied with beauty and worry that you will find them unattractive. Overweight children might feel a great deal of pressure to lose weight because of derogatory statements that they feel their parents make about people who are overweight.

One way that parents inadvertently hurt their children is by complaining about their own bodies. A mother who talks constantly about how she hates her hips teaches her children that they should hate their own hips too. Women are guiltier of deprecating themselves, but some men do this too, talking jokingly about going to seed. Children notice this kind of talk and begin looking for flaws in their own bodies.

Most parents don't even realize that they are giving their children these beauty lessons. Good parents want their children to be happy and to learn to accept their own bodies. Yet children are always more likely to learn from example than by precept. The attitude you have about your own body is almost certainly being passed on to your children.

The question is, then, do you need an attitude adjustment? It may be time for you to closely examine the kinds of things you are saying about your body. Even if you feel that your complaints are warranted, you might want to think about not saying them out loud. In any case, think about what you are saying and assume that everything you say is being absorbed by your children.

Maybe it's also time to let go of some of your complaints and allow for a little acceptance. Maybe you don't have the body you want, but you don't have to hate it. The sooner you can accept your body the way it is, the sooner your kids will be able to accept their own bodies and begin to feel beautiful.