Would you pluck your young child's eyebrows?
One mum had never thought about it before, but an off-the-cuff comment from her daughter forced her to consider it...
Looks really shouldn't matter - especially when you're a child, right?
But in a world obsessed with celebrity, beauty and grooming, it can sometimes feel as though even little kids are feeling the pressure of looking the part.
One of our mums told us recently she was shocked when her 5-year-old daughter mentioned a comment she'd got in school from a boy asking her why her eyebrows met and went down her nose.
"I'd honestly never even really looked at her eyebrows before," Dominique R told us. "But after reading her bedtime stories one evening, as she lay there, I noticed she did have a bit of a 'monobrow' - and actually found myself wondering if she'd let me pluck the hairs.
"I feel pretty bad about even thinking that way. She's only 5!! But there's also a part of me that really couldn't bear it if I felt she was being picked on or bullied for something like that.
"I know it wouldn't send out the right signal if I did do it. But then again, you kind of want your kids to fit in and not feel bad, and if you can do something to change it - might it be worth doing?"
Hmmmm... quite a dilemma.
We decided to ask our mums over on Facebook if they'd ever had a similar experience, and, if so, what they planned to do (if anything).
Krystiana D says:
"My 5 yo daughter's mixed race and she has thick dark hair. She has the 'monobrow' and has a lot of dark hair on her top lip too, as well as a very hairy body.
"Luckily she hasn't had comments yet but as and when she does, if it makes her feel uncomfortable to the point of upset, I plan to use hair removal cream.
"It's hard enough growing up these days with social media and the likes so anything to ease the pressure for her."
Bethan J also reckons it's worth taking action: "My daughter has been teased for a while about hers - I've been taking her since she was 10 to have her eyebrows done now and she has so much more confidence.
"If it's really getting her down then let her have it done, but get a professional to do it - my daughter has hers sugared which is gentler.
"Some kids are just mean but they also get worse the older they get too unfortunately."
Chelss F can totally see why you would do something about it: "Poor little girl - tbh I'd preferably leave it a few more years, but if my daughter was in this situation and she wanted to change it I suppose I'd find a way to help."
Though others of you reckon getting rid of the unwanted hair is the wrong way to go about changing things:
"Firstly I would have a word with the teacher and hopefully the issue would be resolved that way," says Danielle F.
"If it was my daughter I'd remind her how beautiful she is and that people only point out negative things when they are jealous," says Clare P. "Why should she go through the treatments etc just please others? I'd have a word with children's parents and head teacher.
"If she was bothered then maybe cream, but as a last resort.... encourage our children to be proud of who they are."
And finally, this, from Nadia B: "It is such a shame that the world is like that. So if I had a daughter I would do anything to make her life easier at school.
"Kids though need to be educated and respectful towards others, not only elders but their classmates as well.
"Education should start from the family so any kind of disgraceful behaviour would stop."
What do you think?
Have you had a situation like this or similar with your little one? What did you do? Tell us in the comments below or over on Facebook
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Authors
Tara is mum to 1 daughter, Bodhi Rae, and has worked as Content Editor and Social Media Producer at MadeForMums since 2015
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