My parents never told me I was beautiful, and for one very good reason. I wasn't. When your child is a tubby, bespectacled little oddity, as I was, it's important not to give them false expectations.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
My mum never told me that I was beautiful when I was a kid - and I didn't read magazines or watch MTV, so I had no real consciousness about it all.
My dad had this philosophy that if you tell children they're beautiful and wonderful then they believe it, and they will be. So I never thought I was unattractive. But I was never one of the girls at school who had lots of boyfriends.
I wish my parents hadn't made me feel that how I looked was linked to how much they loved me. But I do also see how hard it must be to see your child pile on the pounds and trust they'll find their own way back to a healthy weight.
No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they're pretty, even if they aren't.
You know, my mother's beautiful, my dad was a really handsome man, and there was a lot of talk about looks when I was growing up.
My mother never put an emphasis on looks. She let us grow up on our own time line. She never forced any beauty regimen into my world.
I had parents who were incredibly loving and nurturing and always made me feel beautiful, so I never really questioned that.
My parents always instilled knowing that your beautiful, that your fearfully and wonderfully made, and that you know who you are.
My parents always told me I'm beautiful the way that I am, and I never thought to myself that I needed to be skinny because there's a magazine out there that said, 'Oh, size two,' or, 'Oh, this girl's beautiful because she's skinny.'
My daughter was a beautiful child.