Helping Kids Find Confidence

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I was only in third grade when my ministry to girls with Image Issues began. I remember coming home from school broken-hearted because one of my friends was being picked on for her weight.

So what if some kids are heavy? I was skin and bones, is that wrong, too? Why are kids so mean? I don’t get it. I was baffled as a eight year old and I’m still baffled today. No two people look exactly alike, so what kind of logic says that differences are defects or deficiencies? And why should anyone be ashamed of how they look?

Variety is beautiful

A sneak peak into Know Who You Are–for Kids!

I seldom got judged for being skinny, but It was that same year that the kids teased me because of how I dressed. I used to wear little bobby sox and apparently they weren’t “in style” (because children know these things!). I was the brunt of cruel jokes day after day until I finally told my mom. I was hoping she would take me shopping for long sox so that I could fit in.

I was wrong.

Instead, I got my first lesson on Confident Beauty. “Just tease them right back,” she said. “Tell them they look like ‘Pippi Longstocking” I know that may not sound like super godly wisdom, but her words empowered me with a new perspective. I don’t have to change or try to fit in with others, I have every right to be different and if I wanted to be mean like them, I could tease them, too. After all, maybe I’m the one “in style” and they aren’t!

That night I found the confidence to BE myself regardless of other people’s opinions. I liked my bobby sox, so the next day I walked into school wearing them with my head held high, all ready with a comeback for anyone who teased me.

No one did.

I never got to use my mom’s brilliant line, because no one dared pick on me again.

That’s when I learned the real lesson:

Confidence is far more powerful than fighting, proving or conforming.

I am so glad I had a mom with a backbone. She could have dashed to the store to rescue me with a simple fix, but instead she believed that I could handle this problem and she gave me the wisdom to do so. Now that I’m a mom, I realize how hard that must have been. It takes courage to send our kids out into the big, mean world and we don’t always know what to say to help them.

This is why I am so excited to be putting together a child’s book that will help parents guide their children to find their true identity. Because, it’s no secret that Image Issues are not getting any easier for the next generations.

 

To take my FREE quiz and learn your Image Identity, click here.

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I call my image consultations a “Supreme MakeOver” (or SMO) because it changes so much more than a person’s appearance; it teaches them who they are and sets them free from all that comparison. If you would like to have or host a SMO, or if you want to help me launch my next book, Know Who You Are-for Kids!, then please contact me. I can be found on FacebookTwitter PinterestLinked In, Goodreads  and my website is https://catrinawelch.com


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