When a 5-year-old tells you you’re skinny, you’re skinny

Yesterday, I did a particularly decent job of styling my hair. This may not sound like an accomplishment, but I’m still learning how to be a girl and felt this hairstyle was selfie worthy. So I used my phone to take a headshot and sent it to my best friend. No description, just a picture of my hair doing lovely things and me smiling about it.

She called me about 3 minutes later. She said her 5-year-old daughter had seen the picture, then asked to see it again. She examined the picture closely and exclaimed, “Wow, she’s looking skinnier than EVER!”

Fatty Boombaladdy no more
When I was young, I saw a stand-up routine on VH-1 by Steve Shaffer. The last third or so of this routine stuck with me my entire adult life — kids are incredibly honest, and if a kid calls you fat, you probably are. So much so that I avoided being around children when I was at my heaviest, just so I’d never have to hear their version of the Fatty Boombaladdy song directed toward me.

So when this little girl, a kid who has known me as a larger woman (though I’m sure she can’t remember me at my worst), says without prompting that I look skinnier than ever? Oh yeah, she made my day.