Tuck Them in With a Tale of Tummy Tucks?
If you were
going to have plastic surgery, how would you talk to your kids about it?
According to Newsweek, Dr. Michael
Salzhauer, a board-certified plastic surgeon in
The book, aimed at kids
ages four to seven, features a perky, Barbie-like mother who explains to her
child that she's getting a nose job and tummy tuck to make herself feel better
and to fit back into her clothing post-pregnancy. (Apparently, the
illustrations also show Mommy’s breasts getting noticeably larger, but no one
talks about that.) In the end, her daughter believes that her mommy looks "even
more" beautiful than before.
I agree that parents should
talk to their kids if they undergo surgery. Salzhauer points out that it can be
scary for a child to see a parent come home in bandages and often times, surgery
can put you out of parenting commission for a few days. However, the book could
also perpetuate body image issues -- kids will think their own body parts must
need "fixing" too.
What is your take on the
issue? iVillage moms have been on the fence about mommy makeovers
before—some are all
for it, some are against
it. What would you do and would you
use this book to talk to your kids about it?
--Allison Busacca, Associate Producer, Pregnancy and Parenting
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When, oh when, will we just learn to love ourselves for who we are? S i g h ... this whole topic depresses me beyond words.
This book is completely approiprate! It's a great way to explain to kids what is going on. Of course it would be more helpful if it showed Mommy coming home in the bandages and her tired and groggy. I don't understand the concern for the kids. This book is for the kids whose mother is going through surgery, that child is already going want to change their body surgicaly just by seeing their mother do it this book won't change that or affect it. (The same can be said for children of parents with tattoos, piercings, motorcycles, smokers or coffee drinkers) This book will affect how this child deals with the surgery itself and that is a good thing.
I think that normalizing plastic surgery gives little girls the message that they're not OK the way they are. I totally disapprove of the entire premise of this book. We have 5 and 6 year old anorexics in this country - when will we learn to start sending a different message to our kids?
I am completely opposed to this book as well. Girls and boys both need to have positive body images (boys are getting eating disorders, too). Plastic surgery should be for reconstructive purposes only. Do we want a world where all women looked like Barbie? I know that I wouldn't.
I don't have anything against the surgery...in fact Im planning on getting a "mommy makeover" (breast reduction and tummy tuck)...but this book is just wrong wrong wrong. Actually the IDEA of the book is great, its just the way that it is written that is, dare I say it, vanity propaganda!!! Oh and I LOOOVVVVEEEE how the doctor is portrayed as a 'superhero' type. Isn't it up to us to teach our children what real beauty is?! Does a 4 year old look at stretchmarks and think "man i wish my mommy was HOT like she used to be befor I was born." Ummm no they don't, and if they do you got some pretty screwed up toddlers on your hands.
Why are we women so pathetic- this book is everything that is wrong about us.
To tell you the truth, I feel as if the book is just sending a horrible message to our children. When my sister was younger, she was buleimic because of one of the girls at school told her that she was fat. Could you imagine a daughter getting an eating disorder because her mother made her feel as if she was not pretty enough?
They should have an alternate ending as well...mommy dies. My dear friend died last year of a Tummy Tuck Gone Wrong. A girl I saw at the gym faithfully didn't return one Monday only to find out she had died the previous Saturday from a Tummy Tuck.
People forget that this is very serious. The alternate ending should also give the daughter pointers on how to cope when mommy is dead. The sequel could be called, "Dying to Be Beautiful".
this is the stupidest idea for a book. i agree there should be an altrenate ending where mommy dies. that'll scare the crap out of the kids and make them never want plastic surgery.