Did you happen to read the popular article, “The Mom Stays in the Picture,” by mom Allison Tate at The Huffington Post? It’s a really touching post about how important it is that moms—no matter that they may be wearing maternity clothes a few months postpartum or routinely skip mascara and lipstick—get in the pictures with their children. It’s important that our kids look back on photos and see their moms living real life with them.

Allison’s post got me thinking about my own patients—the kids I’ve heard from during more than twenty-five years of practicing medicine—and I know Allison’s right. If we moms asked our kids, they’d tell us to get in the picture.

Every mother needs to hear from her kids because what they say about their moms is a far cry from what we believe they need from us. I decided to take my patients’ words and use them to create a letter from eight-year-old “Josh” to his mom.

Dear Mom,

I hear you talking about going on a diet, but please don’t. I don’t get why you don’t want to eat lasagna with me and Dad. I wish you would because I like it when we…