Body Image

I feel absolutely sick. Smartie was running around doing jumping jacks and such. She said to me, "I'm exercising because I need to get skinny." What did she say?!? I said no, you don't need to get skinny. You actually need to get fatter. She got very upset. "I don't want to be fat!"

I explained to her that we don't exercise to get skinny, we exercise to be healthy. It's important to be at a healthy weight, not too fat OR too skinny.

I am horrified that my sweet, young, UNDERWEIGHT six year old is already dealing with the pressure to be thin. I've made a conscious effort to frame my own weight-loss/exercise goals in terms of getting healthy. I want my girls (and my boy, too) to have a realistic picture of what healthy looks like, not the media ideal. I want them to know that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. I want them to avoid all the garbage of warped body image and self esteem.

And to add insult to injury, I opened the comics section to see today's Family Circus. Talk about an impossible standard--there's no freaking way that woman has had four children! (And yes, I already sent an e-mail to the artists.) I know, it's just a cartoon. But it's still a glorification of an impossible ideal.

In other related news, we're still waiting for news on the girls' test results. I've called three times, and been told three times they'll check with the doctor right away and call me back. Grr.