So, today I had got to spend time at a Girl Scout meeting with a mixed age group of girls. In honor of Valentines day, the activity at hand was to write letters to themselves to share some of the things that they liked, loved or appreciated about themselves.
Many of the girls were struggling. Their troop leaders patiently coached them through it and before long, the girls were standing up and sharing their letters aloud while others listened.
I watched as a fourth grader stood up and shared her letter to herself. The part that really caught my attention was that she slipped in some of her dreams along with her list of what she liked about herself. A girl after my own heart, I heard her confidently proclaim that she wanted to 'travel the world with her friends'. She capped it off with a saucy "Love, Me."
And then... she added a PS and my heart stopped.
"PS... Lose weight".
I'm just so angry and sad that I don't even know what to do with it. This beautiful child topped of a great love letter full of confidence what that bit of soul killing bullshit.
Thank goodness that she's in Girl Scouts. Thank goodness that she has a place to go where all bodies are good bodies. Thank goodness that there's a caring adult who will find a quiet time and place to talk with her and help her know that everything about her is a gift to this world.
