"I Have Mastered Parenting": Australian Mom Shared Her Daughter's Response Letter Dedicated To A Bully Who Called Her Fat

Raising children is a hard job—you have to account for their needs and balance their feelings—but when you throw outsiders into the mix, keeping peace in the household might become a daunting task. However, not everything is a constant struggle, especially if you lay down good foundations for the child to stand on.

That's exactly the case of a mom from Australia, Mel Watts, and her eight-year-old daughter Ivie, who faced somewhat cruel (if not very intentional) criticism from a classmate. Mel wasn't a stranger to social media and sharing her mom-woes online, but this time she had a reason to celebrate—her little girl found a brilliant and wholesome way to get her point across and stand up for herself in a civil manner.

Little Ivie was forced to confront a bully in her class, but she did it with... well, class. Another girl made fun of Ivie's weight, which stuck with the child. Despite her calm response, the girl likely faced some difficulty since she weighed herself, wondering where her classmate might see a problem with her body.

Ultimately, instead of sticking with the judgment of an outsider, Ivie decided to write her a softly-worded letter in which she explained her point of view and how she didn't appreciate being judged for a body that she loves, saying "And I keep on weighing myself, but this is my body and I love who I am and I will never change it and I don’t care what other people or you think of myself but I know that my mummy and daddy and family love me."

Mel expressed a concern that she was worried her parenting style wasn't up to par since she has 4 children, each one is unique, and she didn't want to stifle or undermine any of them. However, her daughter's action ended as a confirmation that Ivie knows what she's worth and is capable of standing up for herself. Mel said, “This letter Ivie wrote to a friend who used an unkind name to describe Ivie, it wasn’t meant in a nasty way, I think it was more of a conversation, but the one word stuck with her."

The mom understood the classmate likely didn't mean to hurt Ivie. The girls reportedly have different personalities and are "learning their way in the world." Reportedly, the girls are now on friendly terms, having overcome the disagreement. Mel was proud of the intelligent way Ivie solved her issue: “I’m done. I have mastered parenting."

The Instagram post garnered 3,000+ likes, while the Facebook post gathered dozens of comments as the support for Ivie came flooding in. Among the comments, there was overwhelming positivity, with people praising the girl for handling the ordeal in a calm fashion. There were also words of praise for the mom, who managed to raise a girl who realized her self-worth and refused to let others diminish it.