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Little girl's response to someone calling her fat is the best

A five-year-old has schooled the internet on how to deal with body shamers

Bryony Clarke
Wednesday 30 August 2017 12:30 BST
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Picture: Allison Kimmey/Instagram
Picture: Allison Kimmey/Instagram

Many parents dread the day their daughter comes home sobbing that she’s been called something mean in the playground.

But mum Allison Kimmey needn’t have worried, as her five-year-old daughter Cambelle had the perfect response.

When another little girl had called her fat, Cambelle told her: “I’m not fat, I HAVE fat. And everybody has fat.”

Recounting the story to her mother, Cambelle said: “I told her it’s okay to have fat.” The girl’s reply, it turned out, was simply, “Oh, okay.”

Cambelle was repeating a lesson her mother had given her in June this year, after she had called her fat.

In a viral Instagram post, the 30-year-old mother-of-two from Florida wrote:

“My daughter called me fat today. She was upset I made them get out of the pool and she told her brother that mama is fat. I told her to meet me upstairs so we could chat… Me: “Let's talk about it. The truth is, I am not fat. No one IS fat. It's not something you can BE. But I do HAVE fat. We ALL have fat. It protects our muscles and our bones and keeps our bodies going by providing us energy.”

Kimmey went on to explain to her children that some people may have more fat than others, but no one is better or worse because of it.

And now it seems Cambelle has imbibed her mother’s message on body confidence, schooling others in the classroom.

Kimmey described the moment on Instagram as “a parenting win”, praising her daughter’s bravery and understanding. "I couldn't believe that my 5-year-old daughter had been able to handle a situation with more grace than most 30 year olds," she posted. "Children aren't born with hate inside them. They learn words from their environments and the things they see/hear."

She added: “I can't prepare my daughter for all of life's situations, but I can help her to be a voice of compassion, humility and love.”

The post has clearly resonated with many parents, and has been liked more than 19,000 times.

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