Posts Tagged ‘body image’

Barbie: Yes Or No?

Motherhood carries a lot of pressure. I want to raise my children to respect and love others; to reflect kindness and goodness; to believe in themselves and go after their dreams; and many, many, many more things. I want my children to live a full life and know their love and worth. As a woman who previously battled eating struggles and a very poor self-image, I feel especially in tune to how I raise Makenzie. I would do anything I could to have her not doubt her worth and beauty as a person. I would give up everything to have her keep a healthy relationship with her body and food. I have extra sensitivity to all those things so, with good reason, I thought would shelter my little M as much as possible.

Some recent discussion has popped up on some of my favorite blogs recently about the affects things like calling little girls “cute and pretty” as a main form of compliment and the effects of all things Barbie and Princess. Back in the day, I would have said “screw all things pink” and scoffed at perpetuating the stereotypes.

Then….

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I somehow ended up with the girliest of girly girls to ever exist.

When I picked Makenzie up from preschool today she promptly informed me that she wants a Belle party for her birthday.

Say what now?! Are all rising three year olds this decisive on their party themes? Girlfriend loves herself some princess action.

She also suddenly loves Barbie.

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Peter brought this life-sized Barbie creature home for Makenzie. It was a "gift” from someone he works with who decided to let M have it instead of donating it. I was just about to tell Peter to stash the thing away for us to donate…until Makenzie came downstairs from her nap and her eyes lit up like she had won the biggest jackpot to ever exist.

She squeals with delight should we find any sort of Disney Princess, Barbie, Pinkilicious, My Little Pony, or Fancy Nancy book when we visit the library. She begs to watch Belle or Ariel. She wants to be “A princess! A princess! A princess!” for Halloween. I cannot peel the girl out of a tutu when we’re at home. She fights me asking her to wear pants because she wants to wear her purple polka-dotted dress so she can wear a purple bow. She gets excited when I bring home new clothes for her and immediately wants to try them all on because they are “so pretty!”.

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And you know what? Instead of saying “screw pink” (or purple for that matter), I am going to say “screw preconceived notions” and let my little girl be a little girl just how she likes.

That won’t stop me from complimenting her on her kindness, intelligence, sense of humor, and cheerful attitude above all else. That won’t stop me from considering how I talk to and look at myself because I know she pays critical attention. That won’t stop me from telling her she is beautiful, just as everyone is, because God crafter her with a plan.

Instead of worrying about what messages her toys send to her, I will focus on the messages I send to her as her because I’m there as her mother. And trust that the messages from her mom will trump Barbie’s freakishly inhuman waist line. Seriously, though…Barbie is frickin’ creepy!

  • What are your thoughts on little girls getting all into princesses, Barbies, and other such toys? You certainly don’t have to agree with me!
  • What things impacted your self image the most when growing up?

Posted by on September 21st, 2011 75 Comments

Just Say No To The “Ridiculous Stick”

Good morning and happy Friday! I didn’t even think today was already Friday when I woke up, but then Peter assured me that, yes, it is in fact Friday. Works for me! That meant I could have my big bowl of oatmeal right away this morning.

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Normally I have a pre-workout snack of some sort in the mornings – a bar, a couple handfuls of cereal/granola, a piece of fruit, etc – and save my oats for when I come home from the gym and can actually sit down and enjoy them. It also makes me not feel like I’m working out with a brick in my stomach. Rest days I get to dive right on in. And do you see it???

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My peanut butter had a special little message for me. Red heart

I guess it knew I needed that today. Time for a little heart to heart talk.

I ended up taking an unplanned rest day yesterday because my right calf still felt super tight and tender. Logically, I knew I needed to take the day because I would rather have one day off than push a four mile run and weights workout only to get injured or even more pain. It made perfect sense and I was cool with the decision…until sometime in the afternoon.

This is me saying I still go a little mental sometimes and deal with things like exercise guilt. By the time afternoon rolled around, I felt fine and questioned whether I really needed the day off or if I had “lazily” taken a day. The exercise guilt started setting in and overtaking the logical side of my brain.

I started to let myself feel like I had been too lax lately and that I had lost my Body After Baby progress to my happy weight. Even though I’m fitting comfortably in my favorite pair of jeans – the #1 pair of goal jeans I had for myself.

I had already taken an unplanned rest day this past Sunday and felt like taking another was letting myself down…or possibly you all down. Was I being “lazy”? You know… because spending an hour chasing a toddler at the park is lazy, of course!

Basically – I got hit with the ridiculous stick and was in crazy land for a bit there. I guess we’re never fully immune to the body image and exercise/food guilt struggles that have dug their way in before. My oatmeal’s subliminal messaging pulled me out of that you’re-being-WAY-too-hard-on-yourself haze just in the nick of time. Because now I have to see if I can pull myself out of the why-are-you-waking-up-before-6am-baby-B??? haze. Coffee cup

  • Give me either your favorite “love yourself” quote or just something you love about yourself this morning. Let’s burn the “ridiculous sticks” that like to try to beat us every now and again!

Posted by on September 16th, 2011 46 Comments

 

 
Catch Up With Recent Posts

Announcement Time

Posted: November 23, 2011 at 7:47 am

Well, I have had a whirlwind of a few weeks over here. I missed all of you so much! I can’t express enough gratitude for your patience while I got some important things sorted out. Some scary things. Are you ready for the announcement? Here goes! I will no longer be blogging at Faith Fitness […]

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Self-Love Reflection: The Road Not Taken

Posted: November 20, 2011 at 11:47 am

Hello FFF readers! Nice to meet ya! My name is Carissa and my husband and I blog at Fit2Flex.  Well, I blog…he consults! We are both certified personal trainers with a passion for healthy, active living and clean eating.  I am also studying to become a registered dietitian, a race announcer, and a runner.  Stop […]

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Healthier Eating For Kids

Posted: November 19, 2011 at 10:56 am

Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about tips for baby feeding magic. What if you let baby choose what’s for dinner? Check out their cute "Quest for Yum!" video and see what happens! As parents, we want the best for our children. We help them to feel loved. We strive to teach them […]

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Announcement

Posted: November 17, 2011 at 3:36 pm

Hey, everyone! I wanted to pop in and say I am working on some new and exciting changes.  As a result,I may not be posting as much during the coming week.  Please stay tuned for the big announcement! Love you all! And still feel free to find me on Twitter and Facebook for the time […]

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Where The Change Happens

Posted: November 16, 2011 at 7:54 am

It’s kind of funny. I become a certified personal trainer and the first workouts I turn to this week come from someone else. The book came in for me at the library last week and, after flipping through it, I couldn’t wait to give the circuits a go. Making The Cut includes a lot of […]

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From Beginning To End

Posted: November 15, 2011 at 11:53 am

Good morning! First off, thanks for the many congrats yesterday. Love you all bunches for the tons of support you have given me in so many things this year. I hope I can return a little bit of that love through this here blog as well. So yesterday I had my first parent-teacher “conference” for […]

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