July 19, 2010

Do you remember long summer afternoons when you lay on your stomach with your ankles wound together and legs swinging in the air behind you, watching the secret world of grass, or re-runs, or nothing at all? This post is like that. An invitation to daydream, or revisit a line of thought, or to do nothing of what you are supposed to.

The other place I hang my pen, CanadaMomsBlog, is quiet for now. It will no doubt re-invent itself, but in the meantime, please consider this my summertime invitation to visit.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on your version of the word ‘wife’ at Rhymes With Life.

Do you have a child frightened of those summer thunderstorms that roll suddenly in? Check out Thunderstorm Lullaby for this mother’s perspective and a sweet book recommendation.

Spare a thought this summer for the birds and the bees?

Have you ever wondered why you don’t hear all my personal agonies here? Check out Full Disclosure.  

Going camping? Traveling to another part of Canada? Ever considered what geographies we are passing along to our kids? Geography Of Home wonders the same thing.

Leave your thoughts and daydreams about these or any other motherhood ideas, outrages, or inspiration in the comments right here. Perhaps they’ll turn into a blog in the coming months.

Meanwhile, I wish you all a summerfull of mud pies, sunshine, lemonade and kisses.

Labels/Tags: Earnest Girl, The West Coast Chronicles, Summertime and the Blogging is Easy, CanadaMomsBlog, summer daydreams

Posted by CatherineJ at 12:19:41 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

July 11, 2010

“They don’t look like mine.” I said to my reflection in the mirror. 

The lingerie salesgirl, who was looking encouragingly on, replied: “That’s because they look like they did when you were seventeen!” She was all indulgence and smiles, like that was the effect I should want. 

I am not seventeen. There are many things about seventeen I would want again, most of which I would want with a side of the perspective that I have today, but boobs are not one of those things.  They don’t belong on my not-seventeen body. 

Maybe the bra industry is trying to keep up with the cosmetic lift industry – face lifts, boob lifts, eye lifts. Consequently, we are being crowbared back into padding and wires. Everything is about the push and the cleavage. While Botox filling is smoothing our brows, pads filled with latex and gel plump our chests. While we erase our wrinkles, our nipples too are vanishing. We are all, apparently, meant to look like Barbie – larger than nature intended, nippleless, pushed up and smoothed out. Bland. Essentially vacant. But perky! 

The thing that alarms me even more than this Barbie-ization of women is the bra culture for girls. Gone is the world of cotton Jockeys and tank-top sport bras. Hello lace for pre-teens, push-up cups for almost-teens, padded cups for teens who already have, let’ s face it, the boobs the clerk in the bra store wanted me to buy.   

Can you tell a good bra-job from a good boob-job? I’m not sure I can.  Is this a good thing? I’m not sure I know. Certainly pads are better than knives. A good push-up is surely a better solution than surgery and silicone. Last time I checked the statistics, candidates for boob jobs were trending younger and younger. I do not blame the girls for wanting to fit the reflection of the culture around them, this is always a hard one to shake, but I find it reprehensible that the lingerie industry would exploit girls’ desire to fit this same dishonest and ultimately damaging trend. 

Our daughters should know that they are beautiful as they are. That they are blossoming into their most gorgeous flush of youth, that they embody the ephemeral glow that the cosmetic industry tries to injects into every ad and potion it sells. They should know they are supported and beautiful and do not need “a push” to make them so.   

Labels/Tags: EarnestGirl, The West Coast Chronicles, Pushed, mothers, daughters, push up bras, breast enhancement

Posted by CatherineJ at 12:16:23 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

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