Being a new mom can leave anyone feeling a bit uncomfortable in their skin.
It's completely normal and natural — and necessary! — to gain weight during pregnancy. After all, your body is growing and nurturing a baby. For virtually every woman, that weight doesn't magically fall off your body once the baby is born.
When dealing with postpartum weight gain and new-baby anxieties, the last thing any woman would want is for someone to draw attention to her body and criticize it.
Unfortunately, that's precisely what one body-shaming stranger did to Charli Stevens.
Charli had only given birth to her son, Grayson, five months ago. She's also mom to a 4-year-old daughter.
One day, Charli stopped in at grocery store with her infant son to do some shopping for the holidays. That's when she was approached by an unbelievably rude stranger: an older woman who saw a young mom with an obviously-new baby, then took it upon herself to critique the fit of Charli's clothes.
Scroll through to read about what happened to Charli and her powerful response!
Thumbnail Photo: Facebook / Charli Stevens
[H/T: Scary Mommy]
In a lengthy Facebook post, Charli explained what happened to her and reflected on the experience.
She wrote:
I’m not typically one to post too personal of things to Facebook. I contemplated posting this but feel it’s necessary to do.
I went to my local [grocery store] real quick this morning to buy some gift tags because I’m gonna wrap some presents today.
While there, I notice this woman, who was probably in her 50’s, kept staring at me. I hate when people stare but didn’t say or do anything.
A couple minutes later, she came up to me and said “I think your clothes are a little too small on you.”
Completely caught off guard and baffled and also hoping she didn’t say what I thought she said, I said, "excuse me?" And she said, "well no offense but you’re just a bit big to wear those type of clothes."
Charli shared a photo (below) of herself wearing the outfit in question.
She continued:
Instant tears. I didn’t know what to say. Usually I’m so quick to lash out at rude people and I’m never shy when it comes down to speaking my mind.
But I froze. Froze and cried. She said, "I’m not trying to be mean but maybe just reconsider your outfit before leaving your house from now on."
She walked away and I just stood there at the cart with Grayson looking at me. I was literally crying in the middle of the Christmas aisle…
I left without buying anything and sat in my car and cried.
How are people so rude? It’s no secret that I’ve gained weight throughout life. I’ve birthed two kids so it’s bound to happen.
Do I realize I’m overweight? Yes. Do I want to be smaller? Yes.
But am I okay with the way I look? Yes!!
Why would a complete stranger go out of their way to insult someone? What if I was severely depressed? Or what if I was constantly made fun of for my weight and that one comment from that stranger pushed me over the edge?
Luckily, I’m neither of those things. But people have got to start being nice. Having common sense. Being respectful.
This lady knew nothing about me. I had my 5 month old son in the cart and I am SO thankful my 4 year old wasn’t with me to witness what happened. This lady also doesn’t know that I’ve lost nearly 50 pounds from my heaviest weight before having Grayson — but apparently that’s not good enough.
My clothes were tighter than what I would normally wear but so what?! It shouldn’t matter what people wear.
Please, PLEASE, have some respect for people. You never know what someone is going through or if your one little comment, snicker, stare, whatever will be enough to break someone down or push them over the edge.
I’m not writing this for sympathy but just as a plea to anyone who might read this to just be nice and have respect for people.
I fear for my daughter to grow up in this world. We’ve gotta set a good example for our children.
What do you think of Charli's message?
Don't forget to SHARE her empowering words with your friends and family on Facebook!
