When Your Kid Asks, ‘Mama, Did You Get Fat?’

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May 10, 2022

FAMILY PHOTOS When Your Kid Asks, 'Mama, Did You Get Fat?'   I'm very pleased today to have an excerpt on Scary Mommy from Angela Garbes' powerful new book Essential Labor: Mothering As Social Change. And I'm particularly happy to have this lovely section, about one of those moments where you have to balance your own complicated feelings with what you want to teach your kids. In this case, she pulled out a honeymoon photo of herself and her husband, and her daughter asked, frank and curious: "Mama, did you get fat?" She only had a split second to think about her answer: "I look down at my stomach. It is fat. I've done a good job, though, I think. To my girls, fat is just fat, an adjective. It's only me who brings judgment to it. Suddenly, before I can ruin the moment by speaking, they are on me, kissing my stomach, resting their faces on it, petting it, squealing." Give it a read – I'll be thinking about her daughter singing "My only Mama, my squishy Mama" for a long time.  — Kelly Faircloth, Executive Editor   Read More

PERFECTLY IMPERFECT My House is Kind of Falling Apart — And I'm Okay with That   "There are dozens of small, annoying things in our home that seem to be broken — or at least half-working. And I'm in no rush to fix them." Read More   THE 411 These Parents Share What It's Like To Raise A Baby Without Gender   "I never wanted my children to live in a world where they feel pressured to fit into the mold society set for them." Read More   SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT How Do You Tell Your Tween Or Teen They Smell Bad?   "My firstborn liked showers, but my baby, not so much. When I point out that he could probably use a shower, he turns a deaf ear half the time. Teens can literally tune out the sound of Mom's voice." Read More

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STAGES 9 Is A Weird Age. Here's What I've Learned.   The tween years are weird – they're not little kids anymore, but they're not grown, either. Today Samm Burnham Davidson is reflecting on this in-between stage and how she's shifted the way she connects with her son: "Long gone are afternoons in the sandbox, rides on my shoulders, and rice-covered bed sheets. In a slow transition, without me even actively realizing, he went from a baby in my arms to a big kid by my side," she writes. "He isn't quite as keen on a mother-son cuddle session as I would like him to be. So, we do other stuff — often as equal participants." Maybe you can relate?   REGISTER NOW

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