Her Mother's Thighs

'Helping our daughters love their bodies - even when we don't love our own.'

There is a question that plagues mothers everywhere: If I'm critical of my body‚ how can I teach my daughter to feel good about hers?

In this heartfelt and helpful book‚ Dara Chadwick offers a pathway to a solution. The mother of a talented thirteen-year-old‚ Chadwick watched with sadness as her daughter started showing signs of the body insecurities that she had hoped to shield her from. And when Dara found herself overweight and unhappy she struggled to keep her feelings to herself to further protect her daughter.

Using her own experience as well as the real stories of other women‚ Chadwick helps women become aware of the negative body image messages they are unconsciously passing on to their daughters. By helping women live in peace with their bodies she also offers them ways to shape the body image legacy they give to their daughters.

Dara writes‚ 'I grew up listening to my mum bemoan everything from the size of her thighs to the shape of her eyes. So you can imagine my dismay the first time someone exclaimed‚ "You look just like your mother!"'

'As mothers‚ how we feel about and relate to our own bodies-and the conscious or unconscious expression of that relationship-creates a "body image blueprint" for our daughters.

'You'll find lots of stories in this book‚ not just mine‚ but those of the many women and girls I interviewed while researching. Some are heartbreaking‚ some will make you laugh and some will make you say‚ "Why didn't I think of that?" But they'll all teach you the most important thing you need to know to raise a daughter who feels good about herself: She's watching you‚ and listening to what you say. The message is up to you.'

With humour and compassion‚ HER MOTHER'S THIGHS offers parents fresh and useful strategies for conveying that success isn't negated by carrying extra weight - or guaranteed by keeping it off.