Earlier this week, Cindy Zimmerman proved herself a true innovator, as she found several new and exciting ways to remind her daughter of her chubby phase.
“At first I thought it was a compliment when she claimed to love my boyfriend,” says Cindy’s daughter, Nora Zimmerman, “Then out of left field she just added, ‘Also, you’re lucky you met him after that little chubby phase of yours, eh?’ and that totally threw me off. I mean, what a twist.”
“I just want my daughter to look her best, so she can get married to a nice man and be happy,” says Cindy. “When I was growing up, there was only one way a woman could achieve all that: being the size of a matchstick. I’m just trying to help my daughter, and if that requires getting creative with my reminders about her weight, then so be it.”
Cindy’s inventive efforts to remind her daughter about her chubby phase really have us shook. Just when Nora was getting tired of her mom’s more predictable approaches to body shaming, Cindy came through with a fresh new spin on the whole demoralizing experience. Incredible!
“Okay, the other day my mom asked me if I was on my period,” says Nora. “Again, I thought she was being nice, like maybe she was running to the store and wanted to know if she should pick up tampons. But when I told her I didn’t have my period, she just goes, ‘Then why do you look so bloated? It’s like when you gained all that weight in the sixth grade! Remember?’”
Though Nora may feel frustrated with her mom, Cindy has proven she’s not afraid to take creative risks when it comes to making her daughter feel terrible about her body.
“Actually, I’m a preschool teacher, so I know that keeping a kid’s attention means surprising them,” says Cindy. “Kids don’t like when things get predictable, and the same is true about randomly deciding to make your own daughter feel awful about herself for no reason.”
We’re really trying not to cry here. Cindy’s commitment to reminding her daughter about all the times her body did not look perfect has us feeling so much!
At the conclusion of the interview, Cindy could be seen flipping through old photos of her daughter from middle school and fondly reminiscing about the time she couldn’t fit into her cheer uniform. Wow. What a touching trip down memory lane!
