A friend of mine who has an autistic daughter told me that she encourages her to repeat 5 times a day the words, “I am who I am and I am perfect as I am.” I thought this was fantastic and I was going to ask my children to do the same.

So often people lack any forethought in how their innocent remarks maybe misinterpreted by a child. On one occasion my daughter attended a birthday party and it was the cutting of the celebratory birthday cake. My daughter decided to ask for a small piece of cake. The birthday girl’s mum turned round to my daughter and asked if she was on a DIET! I was absolutely flabbergasted at the suggestion as my daughter was only 6 at the time.

My daughter is not overweight by any means but now she thinks she is and comments on her “fat” stomach. We reinforce to her that she should focus on being healthy and fit and trust the message gets through.

I encouraged my children to develop their own saying –

“I am who I am and I am happy with who I am.”
“I am who I am and I love who I am.”

Both sayings were perfect!