Should I spring new boobs on my daughter?
Dear Prudence,
I was barely an AA cup as a young woman and very self-conscious about it. At age 36, after I finished nursing my youngest, I had breast augmentation surgery. For the past 10 years I’ve been a B cup, and I’ve been completely satisfied with my decision. My daughter, who’s about to turn 18, has inherited her breast size from me. Although we haven’t talked about it explicitly, I suspect she’s just as self-conscious about it as I was. She has literally run away to hide while I consulted with the lingerie sales lady about bras for her. I’m thinking about offering her the option of augmentation surgery before she goes to college. She doesn’t know I have implants, and we’re not generally an image-centric or pro-plastic-surgery kind of family. But I’m worried that if I suggest this, I might create the very self-consciousness that I’m aiming to help her relieve. I don’t want her to think that I think there’s anything wrong with her body. Is this a terrible idea? And if I’m not crazy, how do I bring this up in a way that doesn’t imply that I think there’s something wrong with her?
—Flat-chested Family
Re: Should I spring new boobs on my daughter?
Also, why is the mom "consulting" with the lingerie saleswoman? Unless this happened 5 years ago (in which case, it's irrelevant now), what teenage girl wants to stand there while her mom talks about her boobs with a stranger? I'm guessing less "run away to hide" and more "duck out to Starbucks while texting her best friend about how embarrassing her mother is."