TW: this post discusses body image and briefly mentions body dysmorphia.
Mother Moon’s “I Love My Body”
Have you heard of this song-turned-book before? It went viral on TikTok in 2022 and was released as a children’s book last year. The song and book is called “I Love My Body,” written by Mother Moon (@clovermama) and it will move you to tears if you struggle with body image (and who doesn’t?!).
The book has a button on each page to play verses of the song, and has a mirror so your child can see themselves as they sing about how much they love the way they look!
I got “I Love My Body” for my three daughters and my niece as a Christmas present and to call it a hit is an understatement. From the seven-year-old down to the eighteen-month-old, I find each of them randomly sitting on the floor, carefully turning each page, singing every word:
The first time I heard them singing the song on their own was Christmas morning — and I was an emotional wreck. Hearing my sweet girls sing about how beautiful they are and how much they love their bodies healed my own inner child, and I didn’t even mean to do that!
This book has changed our lives, literally. Recently, one of my kids had a panic attack in the middle of church, covering her face and crying into my shoulder about how “everyone is staring at me” and “I’m not pretty, I don’t want anyone to look at me.”
My heart shattered. I rocked her back and forth in the pew and did the only thing I could come up with on the spot: I started quietly humming the tune to “I Love My Body.” She perked up and started singing it, every word, quietly to herself until her tears stopped. Before this book, I’m not sure what I would have done in this situation, as we had never ran into this issue before.
Last week, my three-year-old told me she “doesn’t like her crooked teeth” as she brushed them before bed. I tried to understand where this was coming from–after all, she is only THREE — but to no avail. She couldn’t tell me where she heard this from or why she felt that way, but regardless, her feelings were real, and whether or not I understood it, it was happening. Again, I did the first thing that popped into my head: I told her whenever she felt anything “unhappy” about her body or the way she looks, I want her to sing “I Love My Body.”
Thirty minutes after I tucked her into bed, I heard a small voice over the monitor: “I wuv my body fwum my head to ‘ma toes…I wuv my face, my eyes, my mouf, ‘ma nose…” And while I cried about the toddler not liking something about herself already, I also cried with gratitude for this beautiful song and the comfort it brings.
I even find myself singing it, especially during my period. Having endometriosis causes my body dysmorphia to really ramp up each month, but I’ve found this song grounds me on the days I don’t particularly like what I see. Perhaps it could bring you some grounding and comfort too, my friend. Happy reading (and singing)!
This is so sweet! Can’t wait to play it for my best girl.
This is interesting, given the current message of radical gender ideology being pushed on children. They are taught if they hate their body, then altering and mutilating it through puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery will bring happiness. On the contrary, we need to teach children they are fearfully and wonderfully made and to be comfortable in their own skin. They need to be taught to push back hard against anyone who tells them authenticity means aligning the body with the mind instead of aligning the mind with the body.