How to tell 7 yo?

my surgery is in 23 days. I have a 7 yo. Shockingly enough (totally bragging on myself here )  I have done an awesome job of not transferring my food issues to her. She eats when she is hungry , has a couple bites of chocolate and leaves the rest. Is at the 50th percentile for weight. We don't use the words fat/ overweight. I have never said self loathing things in front of her. If she says something like "mommy your tummy is big" I just change the conversation to "you should see how big it was when you were in it " I tell you all this background because I don't want to tell her the operation is for losing weight   But she will notice different things- we eat as a family so I will be having my 2 oz cups  for many weeks!

just not sure what to say. Maybe just - having an operation on my tummy and I can't have thick food for a while. Could it be that simple? Just looking for anyone's experience. Thanks

That sounds like. Perfect way to explain it to me 

I'm of the mind set of telling the truth. But only you know your child well enough to know how much information she can handle without instilling fear in her. Tell her the truth, Keep it simple IMO. She doesn't  need to know about complications.

My kids were 12 & 10 when I had surgery.  I told them the truth and they wanted details about how the surgery  would work, so I showed them the materials  the surgeon gave me. Then we had a discussion about how much they needed to help me after surgery, they were willing and eager.

Again, only you know your child best to gauge how much to share with her. 

Tell the truth.  Kids are way brighter than we often give them credit for

I think you're on the right track.  My daughter is 12, and we've always tried to focus on healthy eating and living.  But, she knows the truth, she sees what I eat.  I don't hide food from her either.  Kids are great observers - they don't miss a thing.  We never talk about her body other than talking about how it works, never comment on people's size or their appearance at all - other than positive compliments to a person's face.  I'd probably word it something like I'm having surgery to help me eat very healthy food, and the best part is I'll be eating only a little bit when I get home and drinking a lot more water too.  It will take me a little while to get stronger, and once I'm feeling better, I'll be eating about the same amount of food as you do now.  Something like that anyways...

I told my daughter the truth (she was 11 at the time and an unfortunate witness to my self-hatred). But I told my former spouse (her dad) and anyone else whose business I didn't figure it was that I was getting my gallbladder removed. Yeah, shame and secrecy sucks, but so does dealing with the perception of weakness as a result. 

I told my kids I was going on a "special diet" and that was it.  The 13 yr old knows and has asked me questions.  The 8 and 5 year old dont know and dont care.  I eat with the family but just eat my own stuff, or just a small amount of the meat portion of the meal.  I was worried about it, but its been a non-issue.

I say be honest. Kids will make up their own story in their heads. You want them to know the truth. Kids do understand a lot more than we think. 

My son was 5 and a half when I had surgery. We told him that I was going to have surgery so I could be healthier and be able to play with him and his brother more. Honestly, he didn't really care and/or pay attention to what I was eating, because nothing in his world changed food wise. The hardest thing for him was having to be careful not to jump on me when I was recovering and that I couldn't pick him up. 

Pretty much word for word what I told my five year old. He likes to check on my "owies" now and again to see how they're healing :). I really just told him I had surgery to get healthy. Probably weekly he'll as if what he's eating is something I can have (he's big into sharing or offering bites). Some things I just say no thank you and if he presses, I explain its not good for my tummy since surgery and we've been able to talk more about healthy foods and amounts.