A child’s first teacher is their parents. That’s why it’s so important for parents to lead by example.
“Remember that your children are watching and copying everything you do. Choose your words and actions wisely. Be very careful about what you do and say. Set a positive example for your children, even when they are infants and toddlers,” Michigan State University’s website explains.
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And that’s exactly what Chicago morning news anchor Tanja Babich did when she learned that her daughter was self-conscious about wearing glasses.
“She said that she was afraid of what people would think, that she would look stupid or that she wasn’t pretty in them,” Babich told “Good Morning America“.
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“I told her, ‘First of all you’re beautiful in your glasses and second of all, glasses are not a big deal. People don’t care if you wear glasses or not.’ And she wasn’t buying it.”
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When Babich realized that her daughter wasn’t wearing her prescribed glasses during her remote learning classes she decided to lead by example.
So, the mother of three girls wore her own glasses on air for the next week.
Before signing off on Friday, Babich spoke to her viewers telling them why she decided to wear her glasses that week.
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“So in a gesture of solidarity, I’ve been wearing mine all week to make this point: Whatever people say or think about you is none of your business. Just be yourself, authentically and unapologetically. The rest will work itself out,” she said.
She ended her segment with pictures of famous celebrities like Taylor Swift and Idris Elba wearing glasses.
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At the end of the montage, Babich was surprised with shots of her own colleagues wearing their own glasses while working remotely.
Babich said she was really touched by their show of solidarity and that it brought her to tears.
She wasn’t planning on airing an explanation of why she was wearing glasses but her producer suggested that it might help others so Babcich went with it.
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“I hope you will share your kids’ pictures with me on social media. I will only be too happy to tell them how beautiful they look,” Babich said ending her segment.
Since then, Babich’s efforts ended up going viral.
“It never occurred to me how many people would connect with this,” Babich said. “I heard from parents whose babies were diagnosed with vision problems and they’re trying to wrap their heads around what that’s going to be like. Teachers who said, ‘Thank you. My students are so afraid to wear their glasses.’ A good friend, my daughter’s optometrist, actually, said, ‘Tanja, you have no idea how hard it is to get kids to wear glasses. Thank you.’”
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She received hundreds of messages from parents and optometrists for coming forward.
“Showed my daughter, Isabella, the video and she smiled really big and pulled out the specs! Great message!” one parent tweeted.
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Babich says hopes to respond to all the messages she has received.
“The mom in me wants to tell every child that he or she is beautiful,” Babich said. “My husband is telling me, ‘You can’t respond to all of these.’ Well, I’m going to try. For a child to have somebody affirming what their parents say — you look beautiful, you are perfect, you’re exactly how you’re supposed to be — I’m glad I can help in some way.”
You can watch the video of Babich’s segment in the video below.
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