8 yr old dd embarrassed about being too "dark"

[me&3]

Does anyone have any advice or resources for me? My dd doesn't want to show her legs (when wearing a skirt, insists on stockings, for example), and she finally told me why - because her legs are "too dark" - not like her friends, who have white legs. Oy.

We actually happen to be white, but I (and my dd) have a dark complexion. People usually think we're latino. (My ds's, on the other hand, are light, like their father.)

Help, anyone?

[Althetrainer]

dark skin color

I wonder if someone had said something to her. Appearance differences usually don't bother kids at this age that much (unless being teased) until their pre-teen years.

I am Chinese and my husband is Caucasian so our son is half Asian and half Caucasian. He does notice his hair and eye colors darker than his friends' but things like that never bother him (he's 7-1/2). I always tell him how special he is because of his ethnic combination and that he should be very proud of it.

When it comes to the skin color issue, I always tell my son a joke about why brown skin color is superior. God made human using an oven The Almighty first made the Caucasians but the temperature was too low; He took them out of the oven and noticed they all looked very pale. Then God turned up the oven temperature and tried a second batch but this time He left them in the oven for too long so they turned out to be Blacks! After two mishaps God had finally got a hang of human baking. He knew the exact oven temperatures and the length of baking time so his last batch turned out PERFECT! God's best creation of human, the brown skin color! :

With a little bit of humor hopefully she will soon get over it. Best of luck!