Safe Rushing, Anne!

LUCK!!

Em and I had an interesting conversation in the car this morning. It started with her asking me if I ever wished I was skinny and then her informing me that if I bought cereal that wasn't whole grain, she would get fat.

Ahem.

Her teacher is very health conscious and promotes a healthy lifestyle in her classroom. She talks a lot about exercise and healthy food choices. And I'm pretty sure that she wasn't making broad assumptions about body size equating health, but she is also very, very thin. She has a very petite body - we're talking size 00. I know that doesn't automatically make her life easier, but I can't help but wonder how many other kids are taking away a message of Ms. M is thin and is healthy, so thin = healthy.

I told Emeline that I didn't wish I was skinny, but I wished that I made/had more time for exercise and that I made different food choices. I also told her that not eating whole grains does not make you "fat". We also talked about body size and how it is not indicative of healthy or unhealthy; a skinny person can be just as unhealthy as someone over weight and someone overweight can be healthy.

I hope she got it. As much as a 6 year old can, anyway, and that she remembers it for next time it comes up.

We also talked about lying vs. playing tricks and being silly and lying so as not to hurt people's feelings and lying to keep ourselves out of trouble.

In short, parenting = hard.

Dude, Aims, no kidding. Also, WTF, teacher.

I decided based on the Vyvanse attempt that failed miserably that stimulant medications do Bad Things to me. Or at least that one. But I wouldn't be shocked if the other ones do the same brain breaking things.

Made it home, but that was a scary, scary commute.

I think Ms. M is trying to combat the very real problem our school has with childhood obesity. However, we are in a very low socio-economic area with few public transit-acessible food stores and a lot of liquor/convience stores that take food stamps. Food choice is pretty limited.

I appreciate what she's trying to do. One of the things she does is she has a family book bag that goes home every week with a student and it's filled with books about exercise and healthy food and healthy lifestyles and the kids each make a page about what they did that was healthy during the weekend they had the book bag. It's pretty awesome and I really liked it. But, there are some pretty serious issues that affect being able to make healthy food choices. But, like I said, I worry that too many of the kids are making the same assumption that Em did that skinny = healthy.

And speaking of healthy food choices, I totally just had an everything bagel with cream cheese and salami for dinner. With Faygo red pop. Go team.

I've made an appointment to consult with a surgeon about laproscopic removal of my fibroids. I figure that I have 600+ hours of sick leave and an uneventful summer ahead, so might as well use it.

I don't know what to have for dinner. I've got a fridge full of leftovers, but they're all spicy, and my stomach doesn't seem like it's better enough for spicy food. I could go out and get something, I guess.

I might bring it up with the teacher - and it made me think about some things

I did get the message that too fat was worse than too skinny . and also that being lazy or overindulgent was part of what made some one fat . But I had a skinny sister that was very thin and a picky eater -- this wasn't good either .

As a teenager/20 year old I figured out that too skinny might very well mean weak, out of shape and not strong.

As an adult I learned - hey I have asthma - which might explain my reluctance to run as a child and I have diabetes - which has meant I was always able to eat if you put food in front of me. ( so the clean plate club was a really bad idea)

I am guessing that talking about things - and talking about things like food is fuel -- and good food choices give you energy to sing and dance and run will balance things.

and now i am going to walk down to the store to pick up the organic, fresh, no preservative pop tarts ( strawberry and apple ) made by my friend and owner of the Niles pie co.

Balance