I hear you on the hindsight. I lost almost 100 lbs about 3 years ago. So my kids were 6 and 10. But soon after my son was born, I didn’t allow pictures of me to be taken. I didn’t want to see myself. It wasn’t until recently that I understood how selfish that was, and also that my kids didn’t think I was anything but mom. I think my youngest just thought mommies were fat and snuggly and warm. When he was 4 we were on the city bus and an exceedingly tall, thin man ( a la Ichabod Crane ☺) boarded and he poked me and whispered, “Look, Mommy! On some people, the fat goes UP!”

To him it was just another way people look, not my obese ass…but I couldn’t see past my own vanity.