Tiny

I am a foodie.  Never made an excuse about it.  Simple English.  I LOVE FOOD!  Many years ago, I started working out.  I work out so that I can eat.  I am not dying to be 35 yrs old and a size 0.  Nor am I knocking anyone who is.  We all have a goal or an ideal image of ourselves.  At a size 0 12 years ago, I was miserable and anorexic.  Right now I am a size 8, fit, built, and happy.

Yesterday a friend referred to me as "tiny".  I am not Tiny.  Not even a little bit.  I am a size medium and happy about it.  Knowing who I am and what I look like, I wasn't sure if I should say "Thanks!" or "you shouldn't have...". 

Background - We were at Old Chicago's for dinner.  We were out trick-or-treating with our friends at a mall and we wanted to do dinner.   Great!  So, we go to order, and I order a Chicago Seven Stromboli, wings for an appetizer, and a pumpkin spice beer.  My friend Christine said that she wished that I could come over and meet her parents.  Her mom would love me because she would love a "tiny" girl that loved to eat that she could feed.   I love it!  Really, I would love to go somewhere and not worry about the food.

At home, I worry about what I eat.  I do P90X workouts in the morning.   Then I eat something packed with protein.   At lunch, I eat balanced.   But when I am with my family, I don't eat well.  Pizza?  Spaghetti?  Soup & Sandwiches?  Fend for yourselves?   Ooops.

Tiny?  Nope.  Medium?  Yep.  I am average.  And that is fine by me.

Abraham Lincoln

I was watching a commercial for the new movie "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" and it triggered a random thought.  A kid is doing a report on Abraham Lincoln.  He goes online to do some research and Googles "Abraham Lincoln".   Wouldn't it be funny if a kid ends up writing a paper that includes how our president rid the country of vampires????

Pills

Confession:   My husband can take 5+ pills at once with 1 ounce of water.  I have no clue how on earth he does it.  I have to use 16 ounces of water to take 2 small pills - and shake my head and the stuff in my mouth while I am doing it to make sure it all goes down okay.  

The Mom Trap

I was thinking about the TLC show "What not to Wear" the other day, and I started thinking about all the women on the show that would say something like "It doesn't really matter what I look like, I'm a mom."  That was their excuse for dressing poorly, not doing their hair or makeup, and not spending any time pampering themselves. 

I am hugely guilty of being caught in the "mom trap" - where you lose yourself in your title as a mom and forget how to be the person you really are.  Being a mother is WHAT you are, not WHO are.  It doesn't mean that you shouldn't adapt who you are to include your role as a mom, but I have seen so many women that have had kids and then "mom" is all they are anymore. 

Here was my case.  I kind of just let myself go after I had kids.  I didn't dress well, figuring that it didn't matter since I was a mom.  I let my kids dictate our schedules, our meals, our trips, our nights.  I would go without things just so they always had what they needed or wanted.  My life revolved around my husband and children, our house, and the animals.  I found that I only did the things I liked if I could do them without interrupting our family time.  Now that the only people that see me on a daily basis are other parents/kids and people at the gym, I don't see a need to try and impress anyone.  But what happened to impressing myself?  Feeling good about myself?  I am trying to make a daily effort to make sure that I don't let myself slip into that again.  I get dressed and partially do my makeup every day.  I work out.  I have found a love of athletics - running, hiking, lifting, swimming (sometimes), and have even contemplated getting a bicycle.  And it is nice to be able to incorporate my fun into family fun.  I used to feel guilty if I was away from them, but now I realize that to be the best mom I can be, I have to be the best all-around person I can be.   

You should never lose sight of who you truly are and what you truly like.  If you liked dancing before kids, then make time every once in a while to go dancing.  If you like writing, make the time to do that still.  Plus, you should start to do new and different things.  The best part about it is that now you have other people to share those things with.  Painting can be a family affair.  Get the kids involved in hiking, biking, running, or other activities you enjoy outside.  And if they don't want to participate, then do it by yourself. 

Later on in life, when the kids are grown, you will still have those things to keep you happy.  If you make your kids or husband your only priority, you will have an empty void once they are gone, and it would take a lot of time to find out how to fill it.  Take care of yourself - mind, body, and soul. 

And just remember - you will never hear a man say "It doesn't really matter what I look like, I'm a dad."