I’m convinced that the greatest job in the world is being a parent. I know it’s the most fun. But it’s also one of the most difficult. Don’t get me wrong. Being a parent is not hard. But being a good parent IS. And I think I may have made a parenting mistake tonight. My 5 year old son and I were reading a book before bedtime and it was a level 1 reader and he was reading it to me. The current page read “Fat bugs.” As he sounded it out and read it, I remembered recently hearing about one of his cousins getting in trouble for saying somebody was fat in public. And I thought this would be a good time to explain this to him and how it can be hurtful. I quickly found out that he didn’t even know what the word “fat” meant. As he described it to me, he thought it meant tall. I tried to explain to him that it was more of a “big and round” thing instead of a tall thing. And then I told him that I was fat, which he seemed to accept at face value :-) Then he tells me that he is fat too. I say, “no, you are not fat.” He then says he is going to get fat. In the discussion that followed, I realized that he equated being fat with strength. He though it was good to be fat. I explained to him that I am trying to exercise and eat healthy so I will not be fat anymore. He then said, “hey, how about when mommy gets fat, she can exercise with us”, as if it was her goal to get fat. I tried to explain to him that people don’t want to be fat and that they don’t want to be called fat and told him not to ever call anybody fat. He said OK. After our conversation, I realized that I had just taken away part of his innocence. He had no idea what being fat meant, and nor did he view fat people as “fat”. He had no idea that I was fat. Now he does. Being a good parent is tough.