Chubby Arms

My 6 year old daughter E has been going to kindergarten and starting to get comfortable around her friends. They hang out all day at school and she loves being around them. Sometimes she wants to stay at school even longer just to hang out with them.

When you start to hang around people frequently, especially those around your age, you start to compare yourself to them (especially as a kid). E started noticing differences and I’m sure she was processing things before finally sharing her thoughts to Mommy on a walk back from school. E said that her arms were chubby compared to her friends and it’s crazy that kids notice these things this early on. It isn’t a drastic difference, which is even crazier to me.

My wife immediately told E that people are different and that’s totally normal. They come in all shapes and sizes. We shouldn’t compare to others, only to ourselves. Also, E loves to eat all kinds of protein, especially meat at the moment. She is very strong for her age (I’m not biased at all :p). Muscle tends to build up in certain areas and that’s another contributing factor, which my wife and I highlight to her all the time. We have healthy habits and that’s what we should focus on.

E ends up processing the messages, but I’m sure we need to continue reinforcing it. As parents, those constant little chats help frame their thinking and it’s our goal to make sure that our kids only strive to be the best versions of themselves. They should compare themselves against their past versions and figure out how to push to get better. That’s what really matters and we should all keep that in mind (including myself!).