A New Year’s Resolution for our Daughters

Take a look at this:

More than a year ago, I posted a similar video, and many of you commented about your concern as well.

Now, I’ve joined other bloggers in spreading the word about Dove’s effort to combat the onslaught of negative messages girls face every day.

Real Girls, Real Pressure: A National Report on the State of Self-Esteem, commissioned by the Dove Self-Esteem Fund, reveals that there is a self-esteem crisis in this country that pervades every aspect of a girl’s life including her looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members.

— Seven in ten girls believe they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way, including their looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members
— 62% of all girls feel insecure or not sure of themselves
— 57% of all girls have a mother who criticizes her own looks
— More than half (57%) of all girls say they don’t always tell their parents certain things about them because they don’t want them to think badly of them
— The top wish among all girls is for their parents to communicate better with them which includes more frequent and more open conversations as well as discussions about what is happening in their own lives.

Dove is making a difference in the lives of girls across the country through their Self-Esteem Fund. Through nation-wide workshops on self-esteem, national advertising campaigns, and downloadable tools on their website, they are giving girls, moms and mentors the tools they need to boost the self-esteem of girls.

When I agreed to join the movement and blog about this issue, Dove’s PR people sent me a book called “Life Doesn’t Begin Five Pounds from Now,” by Jessica Weiner.

Here’s an excerpt from the review in Publisher’s Weekly:
This volume reads like a manual, helping young women to decode what Weiner calls “the Language of Fat.” She writes perceptively about how girls and women bond over expressions of self-loathing for their bodies (“I noticed just how hard it was to stay intimate with my girlfriends if I wasn’t body-loathing beside them”) and argues that the simple words “I feel fat!” mask an internal world of insecurity and pain.

The idea that we speak “a language of fat” really resonated with me. How often do we use expressions like that? I know I do it. A lot.

So, to get back to the title of this post, this is my New Year’s resolution, to stop speaking the language of fat. No good can come from this language, and it has negative impacts on everyone who can hear it.

Especially her.

And I want her to always have the confidence to wear rainbow-colored rain boots.

So that, my friends, is my New Year’s Resolution.

What’s yours?

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All I want for Christmas… is a good immune system.

On Saturday, we got up really early and drove to St. Louis to see my husband’s grandfather. We got there around noon, but when Andy called his mom to find out when the rest of them were going to arrive in the city, he found out that his sister, brother and niece, with whom we had celebrated Christmas with two days prior, had some sort of awful stomach bug, so their trip would be delayed.

Awesome.

We were all feeling fine, so we went to lunch at Albert Pujols’ restaurant (Andy is a HUGE Cardinals fan, so he was in heaven), and then we went to visit with Grandpa and Andy’s aunts, uncle and cousins. About an hour after we were there, Andy started to feel sick to his stomach.

Awesome.

After we got back to the hotel and got the kids to bed (reallllly late), Andy started throwing up. And throwing up. And throwing up. He was so sick. And let me just say that the “Man Cold” is absolutely nothing next to the “Man Intestinal Virus.” (Perhaps one of my New Year’s resolutions should be to become a more compassionate wife, eh?) The whole time I was thinking about how being closed up in a hotel room was about one step up from being stuck in an airplane in terms of germ-spreading.

Anyway, he was out for the count that night (which was great, because Sam woke up every hour on the hour) and pretty much all the next day. Before long, the kids and I were completely climbing the walls (and I could not keep Kate up off the floor – why she felt the need to wallow on the disgusting hotel carpet is beyond me), so the three of us went to a local outlet mall and let Kate run around the play area for a while.

Eventually, Andy was feeling better, and we went to the gathering of all his extended family at his grandfather’s house. And all the hassle and trouble of the previous 36 hours seemed worth it when we saw Andy’s 99-year-old grandpa with his great-grandchildren.

We finally got home Monday evening. About two hours after our arrival, we heard Kate yell “Daddy! I threw up in the living room!” And then she proceeded to throw up in the bathroom, the other bathroom, and the trash can for the rest of the night.

Awesome.

And then we got word that Grandpa came down with it, too. Andy felt terrible about passing it on to him. But, when Andy called to check on him yesterday, Grandpa assured him that this was worth getting sick:

Pretty adorable, huh?

Would anyone like to place a bet on when Sammy and I will become afflicted with this disease? Because I’m pretty sure it’s just a matter of time!

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Post-Holidaze MOM giveaway!

We know you’ve been focusing on the other people in your life this holiday season, so we wanted to do a giveaway that’s all about you! This week’s giveaway is packed with things to make Mom’s life a little easier and more luxurious. Take a look at the great stuff that one lucky winner will receive!

The BusyBodyBook

Start the year off organized with the BusyBodyBook! BusyBodyBook family calendars provide each family member with their own column to organize and track their schedules and activities while coordinating with each other side by side. The BBB GRID format provides the clearest view of your daily & weekly schedules and activities helping you stay organized, focused and on track.
They’re versatile – assign spare columns to household projects, babysitter instructions, meal planning, personal goals, holiday or vacation preparations, important clients, kids’ school subjects and extracurricular activities.

Calorie Smart Mini

Stick to your New Year’s resolution with the Calorie Smart Mini! This tiny nutrition calculator lets you take your health goals to-go with on the spot nutrition details. You can look up nutrition details for 50,000 foods and over 250 restaurants! The Calorie Smart Mini is going to be a very useful tool for me for counting Weight Watchers points (starting January 1. For sure.), but it is great for my husband as well. He’s never counted the first calorie, but he does have type 1 diabetes, so having accurate carbohydrate counts at his fingertips is an outstanding tool!

Carry and Tuck

The carrie and tuck notetote is a stylish and functional tote created specifically for “note writing on the go.” It comes filled with coordinating stationery, a clipboard, and signature pen, so you can use it anywhere from the beach to the carpool line!

EcoGear

Ecogear bags are made of organic cotton, non-toxic dyes, sustainable wood and organically-grown accessories, and they feature zippered internal organizer pockets, dual side pockets and adjustable shoulder straps. Ecogear bags are named for endangered animals and are made through planet-friendly practices. Our winner will enjoy the Lynx, an organic cotton messenger style bag. The able-bodied Lynx can even fit a laptop in a padded case (I’ve been carrying my MacBook around in it for weeks!). Also, the child in our winner’s life will love the Ecozoo Puppy! It’s part pet, part toy and actually function as a bag for kids of all ages. It is an adorable bag, and one you can feel good about your child carrying!

Wear Clean Underwear

Let me just tell you how much I need this book. When Kate was four months old, we met with an attorney to plan our will. To this day, it remains unfinished. It is seriously something that weighs on me daily! Preparing for our children is one of the most important – and scariest – things I can think of. This book is a MUST READ! Wear Clean Underwear takes you on a journey to discover in fast, simple-to-understand terms exactly what will happen based on your current plan, and what happens if you don’t have a plan. Showing you how to avoid unnecessary taxes and a broken-down court system, the book guides you to transfer your values, love, and support to your children and loved ones with ease.

Perlabella PureDose Pearls

As my 30th birthday rapidly approaches, I am finding myself in more and more need of anti-aging products, and this one definitely fits the bill! Perlabella originated in Italy and is just being introduced to the U.S. The effectiveness of any anti-aging product depends on the integrity and purity of its ingredients. Perlabella PureDose Pearls are unique because, unlike most other anti-aging products, they are airtight, making it impossible for water, air or preservatives to compromise the integrity of their ingredients.

Goody Green Bag

One of the easiest things we can all do to become more green is to buy reusable shopping bags, and I love the Goody Green Bags. Goody Green Bags are eco-trendy reusable bags for the style conscious and environmentally friendly shopper. The bags are made from non-woven polypropylene – a coated, water resistant material that is light-weight, durable, fire resistant and washable. Not only are they super-stylish (and they don’t have a store’s garish logo all over them), they fold up small enough to throw in your purse, so you always have one handy! That is great for me, because despite my best intentions, my reusable bags are generally in the trunk of my car when I am checking out!

The Healthy Woman: A Complete Guide for All Ages

Created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health, this book empowers women to recognize signs of heart attack and stroke, learn the risks for type 2 diabetes and how to manage it, deal with the diagnosis of an autoimmune disease, understand the impact of chronic pain, care for their mental health, prepare their body for pregnancy and delivery, and request a second opinion when they feel it’s necessary. A great resource for every woman!

Do Something Daily Perpetual Calendar

We all know how important it is to spend time with our kids, but sometimes it’s hard to think of exactly what to do. That’s where the Do Something Daily calendar comes in! The calendar offers a daily dose of inspiration and ideas for spending time together—whether you have 60 seconds or 60 minutes. The truth is it doesn’t matter whether you spend a little time or a lot, the best memories often happen on the days you do something ordinary in a special way. Even doing the dishes together can work wonders if she has your interest and attention while you do it.

The Rookie Moms Handbook

The Rookie Mom’s Handbook is the first designed exclusively for first-time mothers. It includes 250 enjoyable activities to help rookie moms maintain their individuality and boost their confidence about leaving the house, socializing, and doing things they’ve always liked to do—either with or without baby. This is a book that came from a blog – how cool is that?

Family Tags from Amy Peters Studio

When people think of Amy Peters’ Studio, they think mom-a-preneur, unique word jewelry, and personalized designs. All of Peters’ personalized designs, specifically her Family Tags line, are hand stamped by Peters herself in her studio specifically to order. The designs end up as unique as your family is. (Note to my husband: I WANT THESE!)

How about that for a great giveaway! Winning all this great stuff would be a wonderful start to the new year.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post telling us which of the above products you’re most excited about. If you’d like an extra entry, tweat a link to the contest on Twitter, and then leave another comment on this post with the link to your tweat. The deadline for entry is Friday, January 9 at 5:00 p.m. and the winner will be chosen by random.org.

Thanks and good luck!!!

P.S. We also have TWO giveaways going on at Reviewin’ It Up! this week! Get on over there and enter!

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