"Why I've started telling my daughter I'm beautiful, every day"

When you’re a parent, there’s a million things to do each day and never enough time to do them.

Boosting your own self-confidence isn’t usually at the top of your list.

But what if your children knowing how happy you are in your own skin could actually be one of the best things you could do for them?

We spoke to Rachel, mum of 2.5 year old, Sophia, who has decided to start doing just that.

“As a Mum, it can be particularly difficult to feel good about the way you look. Not only do our lives completely change when we have kids, but our bodies often do too.

This combined with sleepless nights can make it even more challenging to feel confident about the way you look.

Seeing yourself as beautiful can be really hard, especially if you’re someone like me, who has always struggled with my self-esteem.

It’s so easy to point out what we don’t like about our appearance, and the problem is it’s such a normal part of our culture.

How many times have you heard your friends complain about putting on weight or their wrinkles, compared to the times they’ve said they look good?

Self-criticising culture is so normalised in our society, it’s frightening.

Not only is it harmful to the way we feel, but our children pick up on this.

I read an article recently about how children copy the behaviour that they see their parents do and how important it is to model self-confidence, even if you don’t feel it. It really got me thinking.

Every time I frown at my skin in the mirror, or talk about how I think I need to lose weight, my daughter is learning that it’s normal to dislike her body and that it’s ok to criticise her appearance.

I would never tell my Sophia that she wasn’t beautiful, so why is it ok to tell myself this?

So, I decided to start telling her that I’m beautiful every day.

I’ve started to tell her how I love the way my skin glows and the fine lines around my eyes, that remind me of times I’ve spent laughing.

I’ve started telling her how I like my curves and how I feel beautiful, after I get ready, rather than stressing about looking perfect.

When she asks me about the stretch marks on my stomach, instead of hiding them away, I talk about them as my 'special tiger stripes' which I got when I was growing her in my tummy.

I might not believe it every time, but she does. And as she gets older, it’ll help her to grow up thinking that it’s normal to like how you look.

It will help her be confident in herself and happy with the way she looks. And that’s what matters the most to me.”