When Poppy hears an unexpected comment about her body at school camp, her confidence wobbles. Even after she climbs to the top of the wall, the words keep playing in her mind. On the car ride home, Mum helps her spot the lies her brain is telling her — and teaches her how to catch them, check the truth, and replace them with kinder words. A story about body confidence, inner strength, and learning to be the boss of your own thoughts.

Parent Conversation Guide

Big idea:
Children can internalise careless comments about their bodies and replay them as if they are true. Teaching them to recognise unhelpful thoughts, check them against evidence, and replace them with truth builds resilience and a healthy inner voice.

Conversation starters:

• “Has anyone ever said something about your body that made you feel uncomfortable?”
• “What kinds of thoughts do you sometimes have about yourself when you feel embarrassed?”
• “How can you tell if a thought about you is actually true or just a hurt feeling?”
• “What’s one truth you could tell yourself instead?”
  
  

Phrases to model:

• “Your body is not a problem to fix — it’s your partner for all your adventures.”
• “Not every thought your brain gives you is true.”
• “You can speak to yourself the way you would speak to your best friend.”
• “The proof is in what your body can do, not in what others say about it.”

How to model:

• Share a time when someone’s comment stuck in your mind and how you challenged it.
• Speak kindly about your own body in front of your child, especially about its abilities rather than its appearance.
• Praise your child for what their body does — climbing, swimming, running, hugging — not just how it looks.

Practical skill to teach:

• Catch it — Notice the unhelpful thought.
• Check it — Is it true? What’s the proof?
• Change it — Replace it with a truthful, kind thought.
• Turn it up — Imagine turning the volume up on the truth and down on the lie.
  
  

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