Jenny's Legs

One of my favorite students is named Jenny. She is five years old, and it just so happens that her legs are the slightest bit bowed. I really wouldn't have even noticed, until she told me that that evening she would go to the "leg hospital." I was shocked when she told me this. This was about a month ago, when she told me. Last week, I asked her if she had gone to the "leg hospital" recently. She told me that she was going that night. I said, "Do you go there a lot?" She said that she'd gone 100 times. Now I'm pretty sure that was just a 5-year old exaggeration, but still, she must go often enough to say that.

It makes me frustrated that her parents think she is not good enough the way she is. Everything is all about appearance here. I thought appearance was a big thing in America, until I came here. It's so much more so here. Just because Jenny's legs don't look "perfect" she has to go the the doctor so that they can fix them. When I starting thinking about it, I thought about the braces on her legs she would probably have to wear, and the pain she would uneccessarily have to go through, all to appear perfect on the outside, yet someday she will realize that her parent's didn't think she was good enough the way she was.

I'm never a fan of plastic surgery (which it seems almost all the girls get here!) but I guess if you are old enough to make your own decision...fine. But Jenny is five. She couldn't care less if her legs are a tiny bit bowed. It's just very sad.