Stick and Stones May Break My Bones

Most of us on Facebook have seen the post “share a picture of you in your senior year and one now.” I know I did and I even shared it myself and said “it’s amazing what eight years and a baby can do.” That post got me thinking a lot about something that I overheard over a decade ago...

Back story first though okay? I was a bigger child, wore glasses, quiet, and had my nose in a book whenever I got the chance. I didn’t have many friends. My sister was the “pretty” one and I was the “smart” one.

My mom and dad were going on a trip to Vegas for a week, so I went to stay with my best friend and my sister stayed with hers. I had to ride a bus I didn’t normally ride.

So here I am on this bus minding my own business, when two boys get on the bus. I can hear them talking about how hot they thought my sister was. By this point I am use to hearing that so I tried to tune them out. But, that’s when I heard my name. One of the boys was like “her sister Chelsea is like the ugly thing that hangs from the tree in a horror movie.” The other boy just laughed and agreed.

I just sank lower in the seat as tears ran down my face. The boys didn’t see me, they had no idea I heard that. Since that day it has stuck with me. This was over a decade ago and it STILL haunts me.

I have always struggled with a positive self body image, even today! However, I am proud of this body that I have. I have accomplished so much since that statement. I went on to manage several theatre productions. In college I played on the softball team for three years. After graduation, I lost close to 70 pounds in a year. I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. But that statement still haunts me.

With that statement still haunting me, it makes me want more for my daughter. I hope that she never has to experience hurtful words like that. I pray that I am raising her right and that if words like that are spoken to her, she will be stronger than I was and speak up for herself. My hope is that if she ever hears anything like that she will stick up for the kids who are too afraid to speak up for themselves.

I was raised on the statement “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Words do in fact hurt, even decades later. Take it from the “ugly thing in the tree.” Let’s teach our daughters and sons to be kind and throw that saying out the window!