All about that Bass turnt down for what?

Okay I am late to this party but as I have gotten back into running, my iTunes pop radio(gasp can an aging 30-something admit to still loving pop music) has been my new workout buddy. 

And LO and behold, Meghan Trainor, I like your peppy upbeat message! Pop starlets and positive body image messages? Who knew?!

But I'm here to tell you that,
Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top
Yeah, my momma she told me don't worry about your size

Yes! She had a good momma (albeit not a very grammatically correct one) who didn't fret about size or second helpings of rice at dinner. It's a tough balance, health and fitness vs. exercise just for some unattainable society-driven goal of a visually pleasing body. I hope to inspire my daughter to feel so free and proud of her shape that she writes a song about it too!

Maika has discovered a love for running. I have to thank the #Little Critter books for encouraging a healthy perspective on exercise and Gabby is our new racing icon. My daughter flies past Morningside Park with unbridled joy and golly she is fast! And she loves it!  It's exercise by default and fun first. I have to admit that my buddy Equinox has become a bit of a punishment for me recently ( um, can the instructors please stop asking if anyone is pregnant in class everytime they walk past me with an awkward knowing WINKWINK). NO! I am not pregnant. I had two 8#babies back to back and I have a horrible core and a pot a-la Fabian circa 1996 Pulp Fiction. I do not love it. But it made two delicious children. Maybe I will lose it one day but I can't be embarrassed by it anymore. I can't avoid the gym because of my little pooch. What sort of lesson would that teach Maika? What would Meghan Trainor say? 

In the words of Little Critter, "I didn't win, but I ran the whole way."  Yes. That message matters. I love running, sweating it out, and the grip of pavement (insert treadmill due to snow) under my soles. If I jjjjiggle a little more while doing so...eh, such is life. I shouldn't worry about my size. Life's too short to sweat that.  I have got to be the positive force in Maika's life and I do not want to burden her with body image BS. I want her to hold onto this love for exercise. Running is joyful and a discovery for her not just a means to a skinny end. We can run and still enjoy an eclair here and there. I am her momma and I told her that.

Xo

M

Spring fling

And by spring fling, I mean to say, did this first hint of warm weather encourage all women and teens on the streets of Manhattan to fling off all of their clothes?!

Ambling along Lexington Avenue this afternoon I could not help but notice the excessive amounts of skin flashing in the glistening sun. Women still pastey white, translucent even, from a long winter hibernation shed layers and gloriously displayed their gams and from elbow to armpit enjoyed the splendor of what fifty degrees feels like in NYC.

Huddled around a Just Salad on the Upper East side, I passed a gaggle of joyful twelve-year olds with perhaps a bit too much skin, though...and I felt a momentary pang of fear. I will one day be the mother of a tweenager. Yes, I will find myself embattled in a question of hemlines and neon bra-lettes. Eep. This frightens me. 

My recent lament over princess dresses...ah this pales in comparison to the short-short. You know nothing, Jon Snow...and neither do you Michelle Metz and I apparently haven't even begun my journey in the world of parenting. 

The question arises then. What does it mean to have sartorial choices? How long do I have a say in these matters and is there a line to be drawn? 

Questions. Questions. Questions.

In the meantime, very happy to shed my winter tights. Maika, please wear flannel forever. Maybe I am a hypocrite?

Xo

Michelle 

Disclaimer: I spent most of my twenties quite underdressed. Please disregard Halloween from 2002 onward...