I’m not going to vent about the NY Times [much]

Good morning, everyone! I hope this post-daylight savings Monday doesn’t have you dragging too bad. I am feeling like I could drink an entire pot of coffee in one sitting. I hate Daylight Savings. Ugh. Not only do I not even remotely understand the purpose and reasoning behind it, but I hate waking up when it’s still dark out.

First things first! Random.org has chosen our “Designs By Jessie” giveaway winner!! I meant to do this on Saturday, but I don’t even think I got on the computer. Soooo….here ya’ go! Random.org has chosen random number…….

41!
Congratulations to Mandi at “Tales from a  Recovering Perfectionist!"
Get up with me sometime today and I will give you Jessie’s contact information and you get get your Gift Certificate!

Thanks so much guys for joining in the Giveaway. I’ve already got another one in the works, so hopefully there will be another one for you guys coming very, very soon!

Have you heard the buzz around the blogosphere this morning? Some snarky reporter for The NY Times wrote a very ridiculous article about mommy bloggers. In fact, the stupid thing is titled, “Honey, Don’t Bother Mommy. I’m too Busy Building my Brand.” I hesitated to even link to the article because I’m not wanting to drive traffic that direction, but as a Mommy Blogger, Mommy Networker, and well, just a mom in general, I thought this article was completely off track and not at all researched. Basically it’s one obnoxious woman’s opinion that we can’t be good mom’s and bloggers. And if you remember, I have actually already written a post about this right here. There are a ton of other great posts being written about this article, and I am strongly encouraging my readers [if they are up to it] to write their own. It’s a very inaccurate and unfair article that definitely needs to be addressed. And that’s all I have to say about it. Because if I get started, I won’t be able to stop and my blood pressure will go up.

Ahem. 

On a different note. I’m sorry I was such a bad, bad blogger this past week. Hubby had Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and the whole weekend off work, so we tried to squeeze in a whole bunch of family time. We did the beach and the park and played outside and spent some time with the neighbors socializing and relaxing. We got a few more things around the house done, but we’re going to really get it done next week. The mother-in-law and brother-in-law are coming down on Wednesday to visit and we’re going to get everything else put into storage. We’re packing up Little Man and sending him to Alabama with his Grandma until we make up there on the first. I can’t believe it’s almost time to leave Florida. Time is going by much, much quicker than I thought that it would. It’s kind of crazy. The days just seem to be flying by us and I’m scared that they are only going to go faster as we get closer to the dreaded April 19 departure date for Hubby. I just hope that the summer goes by as fast as the past few weeks have.

But today, I’m back to my regularly schedule antics. Blogging, tweeting, cleaning, paying bills, running errands. You know being a Mom. And a Blogger. {Oops. I said I wouldn’t bring that ignorant article up again.}

I read an old article in People Magazine this weekend that bothered me a little bit. It was one of the ones they did on Heidi Montag after she had her 10 plastic surgeries. It was kind of sad to read that she was so uncomfortable in her own skin that she felt the need to undergo that much at one time. We’re paving a dangerous road for our girls. The Brittney’s, Heidi’s, and even the Miley’s of our culture aren’t setting the best example of what young girls should strive to be.

I used to think that there were a handful of good, modest role models for girls to look up to, but that number is dwindling out very very slowly. After Miley Cyrus’ little pole dance escapade last year at the Teen Choice Awards, I kind of knocked her way down on that list. And did you see the cover of Cosmopolitan with Carrie Underwood last month? Could her dress have been any shorter [or any tighter for that matter]? And some of these music videos are ridiculous. I’m holding onto the hope that Taylor Swift doesn’t lose herself in all of the media garbage. She’s such an icon right now, and whether she realizes it or not, there are a lot of young girls that want to be just like her.

But the part of the People article that bothered me the most was that Heidi said she did what she did as much for her husband as she did for herself. It was for her in the sense that she wasn’t comfortable in her own skin, but she did it for her husband because she didn’t feel that she was beautiful enough for him. How sad is that?! I started thinking about that and how sad I thought it was, until I realized that I had felt the same way…and if you are honest, so have most of you.

It isn’t necessarily anything that our husbands do to make us feel that way, it’s just something we battle. I mean, like I said, do you see the cover of the magazines that sit there on the rack taunting us? Melissa Reycroft is on the cover of this months Shape or Fitness magazine or something, and let’s not forget the infamous Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Addition that is all over the shelves right now. Sex and looks and body image are everywhere; making us feel inadequate and causing stumbling blocks for our husbands. We live in an ‘all about body image’ culture and if you are like me, it makes you sick.

I used to be a size 4. I was in shape and toned and tan. In college, I ran 2 or 3 times a week, worked out, played tennis, walked at least 4 miles a day while I was on campus, swam, tanned…it was crazy. I was physically in shape enough that I could have worn anything and looked ok in it. Then I had a baby. I’ve got about 5 extra pounds around my mid-section that won’t go away and usually no energy to bother trying to get rid of it. So instead, I eat junk food when I shouldn’t and then feel guilty and sorry for myself. LOL 🙂

In the interview, Heidi said something to the extent of, “How many women would do something like this if they could?” Hmmm. I started thinking about that. If finances, or having someone keep your kid(s) while you recuperated, or whatever the reason might be weren’t an issue, would you have plastic surgery? And I mean plastic surgery to the extent Heidi Montag did. Liposuction, implants, nose job…whatever. Would you pay to have someone fix all of the little things about yourself that you don’t like?

I had to think about that. And as much as I would love to say “No” that I wouldn’t do that, there is a big, big part of me that thinks that maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. I know that God created us in his image and that we are perfect in his eyes. And I know that my husband would tell me that I was beautiful to him just the way that I am. But would that be enough? I doubt it. Because I think most of us, as women, want to be considered ‘as beautiful’ as –insert name of famous female here.-  And most of us, at some point or another, have had issues with our self esteem or been picked on.

For me it was my nose. I have one of those noses that turns up at the end. And not in a ‘Samantha from Bewitched’ kind of way. My family has always thought it was just hilarious to pick on me. I’ve received pig paraphernalia for YEARS: ranging from stuffed animals to Christmas ornaments. In 6th grade, some girls got together and created a “Slam” book [think Mean Girls and the Burn Book]. What was written about me? Uh-huh. My nose.

So yeah, there is definitely a part of me that would like to think that I would be strong enough to say no, but in reality, I don’t know that I could. With beach season quickly upon us and the fact that I’m days from having to buy the dreaded swimsuit, I would LOVE for someone to magically “fix” everything that I think is wrong with me. And then I think to the day down the road when I will (hopefully) have a daughter of my own. What kind of message would that be sending her? For me to teach her and lecture her on being comfortable and secure in her own skin, knowing that I had said yes to a body makeover.

There is such a fine line there. The difference between enhancing your beauty and being comfortable with who you are and fixing things that aren’t wrong to begin with.

What about you? What are your thoughts on this? Do you think you would or could say no to a free ‘makeover?’ What are your opinions on plastic surgery as a whole? What about Role Models for Teen Girls? What makes them appropriate [or inappropriate] for our daughters to look up to?

I think I will write something more indepth about our husbands and their battle with the very sticky issue of physical beauty. And how that effects us. Maybe I can get some great insight from the husband. 🙂

I’m spending the day with Little Man today. We’ll be running errands and enjoying our traditional “Mommy-Son” Lunch Date. Oh how I look so forward to these days! Have a wonderful Monday, everyone!