I'm just figuring out this whole blog thing, so things may be a bit rough for a while.
I wanted to title this posting "Babies, Children, and Body Image," but I don't have a place to put a title on this. Maybe it's the template I chose. Maybe I'm a little "Blog challenged."
Today at dinner, my six year old was eating a chicken breast and I noticed a bit of fat on the piece he was about to eat. I took it off and told him it was fat and he shouldn't eat it. He asked, "What is fat?"(Later on at dinner he asked what an Ice Age was and I realized I hadn't paid enough attention in science when I was in school.) I mumbled something about not burning all the calories you take in, but then I thought how nice it would be to not know what fat is. How different would I view my body if I didn't know what fat is. I wouldn't feel bad, I don't think, that I still have 12 pounds of baby fat to lose and a whole size to go before I fit into my prepregnancy clothes. I would buy the kind of ice cream that tastes the best. If I could just see me as a person and not a flabby, frumpy house frau, how would that change my self image?
Whenever I put her in front of a mirror, she grins like she's just seen the best thing since full breasts. She loves what she sees in the mirror--and her thighs look chunkier than mine! (It's true that she is the cutest darn thing I've seen since her brother was that age.) I want her to always smile when she looks in the mirror. I want to always smile when I look in the mirror. Can I change what I feel is important about the way I look. Can I accept a neat appearance and a bright countenance as a perfect reflection, blemishes, wrinkles, bags under the eyes and all?
My aunt lived in South Africa for a few years. She once met an old woman who had lived her life in a village away from "civilization." My aunt took a polaroid of her. When she saw what would be the first ever image of herself, she cried, "I like me!"
How wonderful is that! As a parent, I want my children to be able to look in the mirror with a smile and say, "I like me!" But I think I have to realize that for myself first.
I have decided to start the next time I look in the mirror, and every subsequent time, to smile and say, "I like me!"
6 comments:
Hi there, I found you off of Chris Clarks blog, here's how you get a title for your blog (I just figured it out myself after a couple of months, so I'm happy to help.) click the I power blogger (white/orange) under your profile then log in and go to change settings (the little wheel?), then under the settings option go to formatting, and scroll down to where it says "Show Title Field" and change it to yes. Now when you go to publish a new blog it will have a box for your title. Good Luck!!
By the way, cute babe, my youngest, Whitney, is 5 1/2 months! I have 3 girls (6, 4, and the babe), I'm not looking forward to them being in those terrible teenage years. I hope they always see how beautiful they are, just like I see them!! (Now if only I could think of myself that way??? I'll try your "I like me!!" too!
Thanks, Wendysue! I hope when you visit again, you will see a change. I'm also trying to do a cool side bar with links like Chris has. I tried to follow their instructions, but, yeah, I am Blogger Challenged.
Welcome to the blogging world! I'm SO glad you told me about it. I look forward to visiting you on the world wide web...
What a great post! Just what I needed today. (I, too, found you off of Chris Clark's blog.) I have three boys (9, 5, and almost 2), and they don't seem too concerned yet with their appearances. I, on the other hand, need to lose about 30 pounds. Reading your "I like me" story made me feel so much better. Thanks! And welcom to blog land.
Ooops...I mean welcome to blog land. (It's a shame when an English major can't spell worth a darn.)
I'm glad you liked the post. May we all love ourselves more!
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