Kids are honest. Unless they’re talking about something they want, or something they did (or didn’t do), you can rest reasonably assured that whatever a kid under 12 tells you is the truth. They have no filter. If a kid tells you you’re fat, you are. If a kid tells you you’re ugly, well face it - you’re ugly. And if a kid tells you you’re Billy-Joel-ugly, but without the talent or fame, go ahead and smack him for being a rude little shit. After you do that, though, you should also give up hope of ever dating anyone remotely resembling Christie Brinkley (unless you are talented and/or famous).
Realistically speaking, though, these are things you already know. Take me, for instance. I’m fat. I know it. At a soccer practice some kid’s 3-yr-old sister comes over and says to me, “you have a BIG belly”. The kid’s mom, mortified, grabbed her daughter and started to scold her. The kid wasn’t doing anything wrong, she was just being honest. I told her mom “it’s okay, it’s not a secret” and she chuckled and relaxed a little.
The point is to not let it get to you. You know you’re ugly, or fat, or an asshole. I’ve never actually been called an asshole by a little kid, but I’ve seen it in their eyes. They’re thinking it, and the only reason they don’t say it is because they know they’ll get in trouble. Regardless, it’s true - I am, at times, a complete asshole. Especially to little kids, who are easy targets because they can’t really fight back.
Don’t fight the truth. Just admit it to yourself, embrace it and move on. One final example… My son (10 yrs old) was explaining to me something they’d been doing in art class, where they drew a portrait without looking at the page or lifting the pencil. He asked me if he could draw me and I told him no. He asked why not, and I answered “because I’m pretty ugly”. His response… “No, daddy, this would just be your face.” You know what I took away from it? My son thinks I’m a pretty good-looking guy. From the neck up.
