Why Jenna Bush Hager’s Childhood Diary Breaks Her Heart Today
As a mother of girls, Jenna Bush Hager’s heart broke reading her fourth-grade diary during a trip home to Texas over the holidays.
“The last page was written on Jan. 1, 1992, and in it I wrote (in barely legible cursive) my New Year’s resolutions: Number 1: Lose (spelled loes — maybe improve spelling should have made the list?) 4 pounds,” former President George W. Bush’s daughter, now mom to Poppy, 4 months, and Mila, 2, revealed to Today on Monday.
Photo: Today
Reading the vow she wrote as a 10-year-old, the Today correspondent admitted, “I was left with a pit in my stomach … Now that I have two daughters, I HATE to think about them scribbling resolutions like this.”
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The note “broke my heart,” the self-described “chubby child” added on camera during a segment on Today, noting, “And I have a mom that does not talk about diets or anything.”
STORY: What Happens When Parents Are Obsessed With Their Child’s Weight
So the 34-year-old made a new resolution this year: not to resolve to lose weight — for the first time in 25 years. “Is losing weight the end goal? Should it be?” she blogged. “I have decided a decisive ‘NO!’ — even though I have a 4-month-old and weight to lose, not to mention a job which also publicly adds 10 pounds.
“It’s not that I don’t want to look good — let’s be honest — I do,” she wrote. “But with the birth of my girls, my priorities have completely changed. NOW more than EVER I want to FEEL good; feel good not only for myself, but for my husband and daughters.”
Photo: Instagram/Jenna Bush Hager
It’s just as important to resolve to stop passing along negative body issues to your children, experts tell Yahoo Parenting. “Most teen girls think they are overweight, even though they aren’t,” says child psychologist Laura Markham. “So it’s vital to make sure girls know that weight gain is a normal part of developing as a woman, and fitness is the goal, not some warped cultural ideal of over-thinness.”
Photo: Instagram/Jenna Bush Hager
Coming from Mom, the message means a lot, adds body image expert Robyn Silverman. “In the world of girls and body image, Mom’s words rule supreme,” explains the author of Good Girls Don’t Get Fat: How Weight Obsession Is Messing Up Our Girls and How We Can Help Them Thrive Despite It. “We often talk about how mothers can pass on poor body image attitudes to their girls, but we forget that moms can also be instrumental in helping to instill positive body image in their daughters.” Silverman shares some little resolutions mothers can make that will make a big difference.
1. “Talk openly about what your body allows you to do,” advises Silverman. “This works because mothers are replacing the typical discussion of ‘how our bodies look’ with ‘what our bodies do.’” So whether you love to do Zumba or simply run around the park with your children, let kids know that your body plays a key role in your ability to do what you enjoy.
2. “Show gratitude for your body,” the expert adds. “For example, you could say, ‘I’m so grateful that my body allows me to do the yoga I love. Yoga really grounds me and feels great!’ Or ‘I’m so grateful that we were able to take that walk together today on that beautiful trail. These legs really take me places!’ The idea here is that we create a script that our daughters — and sons — can adopt themselves.”
3. Teach our girls to be media savvy. “There are so many messages that tell girls and women that their bodies are not good enough the way they are, and that they are in need of products, assistance, or diets to solve the perceived problem,” gripes Silverman. “Given these messages, mothers — and fathers — can teach their children how to decipher what the advertisers are trying to get the public to do and feel so that they buy a company’s stuff. Children and teens don’t like to be duped, so when the wool is pulled from their eyes, it can be a source of happy understanding for them.”
Top photo: Instagram/Jenna Bush Hager
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