I walked into the kitchen and spotted Miss 7 scooping several teaspoons of Peanut Butter onto a plate as a dip for her celery sticks. We’ve always been OK with a little PB as a dip but the mountain she had formed out of the oily jar of smooth peanut butter was definitely going overboard.

I calmly explained to Miss 7 that too much peanut butter would give her a tummy ache and that it wasn’t healthy for her body. It’s the same deal with Nutella, despite the fact that I have had the odd fantasy about eating a whole jar in one sitting!! Hmmm, Nutella………

Coincidentally I’d recently read a story about Australia celebrity AJ Rochester, who openly admitted that eating of the peanut butter and Nutella jar’s was a problem for her. AJ was made famous as the host of Australia’s Biggest Loser, where for a total of 4 seasons she graced the screens in a healthier version of her current self. AJ is currently obese with medical staff warning her to lose some weight or risk death.

Right or wrong, there’s nothing like a little shock tactic to help us parents along, so of course I quoted the story to Miss 7 and stated that an Australian lady was told by medical staff to stop eating peanut butter and Nutella out of the jar or she could get really sick and die. She said, “Mum, can I please see a picture of AJ?” and in the flurry of afternoon tea, which then meant dinner prep, I promised I’d Google it at another time. Miss 7 wanted photographic evidence!

A couple of days later I managed to snap a shot of AJ in a mag I was reading while in a waiting room – it’s seriously the only time I ever see gossip mags, so I thought it my responsibility to uphold my promise to show Miss 7 a photo. The photo was this one to the right…..

The words she spoke when I got the chance to show her the image left me speechless, for all the right reasons.

“Oh Mum, she is so beautiful”. Miss 7’s eyes were wide open, she had a large smile on her face and she was admiring the beauty of this mystery woman who I had painted so negatively because she gorged herself on peanut butter and Nutella straight from the jar!

I smiled; I was left without words momentarily as I admired the innocence, the kindness, the ability to see beauty in what so many others would not from our 7-year-old daughter. Miss 7 then said, “Oh mum, I thought she would be really ugly, but she is so pretty, look at her hair, it looks so nice and I love her bikini. She just looks like she has eaten too many pies mummy”.

The haters may bag me; label me as a bad mother for associating spreads with obesity and perhaps even read more into this story than there really is, but the message I want to send today is simply this:

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. AJ Rochester, you are a beauty!!

Yasmin is an owner and co‐founder of School Hours Pty Ltd. Yasmin’s passion for helping others coupled with her desire to achieve a balance between raising children and earning a living, lead her to create School Hours Pty Ltd with her husband Leigh. School Hours are Australia’s family friendly employment experts ‐ they help parents find it, employers understand and implement it and are champions of those offering it.

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