“You’re not fat Mummy,” Belle said to me once, “you’re just very, very, very chubby.”

It was her way of being kind, of trying to boost my self-esteem, but I’m not sure she quite got it. Still, she’s right, I am a bit chubby. I’m not sure about very, very, very though.

I try to be as positive as possible about my body, no matter how I might actually be feeling. I sell my squidgy tummy as an excellent pillow, and my rather large bottom as a secret defensive weapon in netball matches. I know how easily influenced girls are by their mothers, and how what feels like a harmless comment to you can stick with them as they grow up. It’s hard though, especially when Belle has such an opposite body type to me – the soft tummy and large bottom can’t be bigged up too much (literally and metaphorically) to a child with a naturally twig like build and a bottom the size of a ten pence piece. View Post