Tuesday

Halloween- A Reason to Take Your Clothes Off?

Wow. Hilar conversation with my youngest just now. I wanted to show her a video on YouTube that Jefferson Bethke was asked to make addressing how girls dress on Halloween (or don't dress, that is). I'd thought about writing a blog and including the video in it.

I was telling her how he got bashed in the Facebook comments by so many Christians who don't believe in celebrating Halloween. I mean bashed. Bashed for even associating himself with the holiday. Though we don't celebrate it either, it made me a little scared to blog on the subject at all!

I asked her if she remembered why we've not celebrated Halloween, all the spooky stuff and trick or treating. (It's been a looong time since I think we've even talked about it...I've learned to never assume).

So we talked about it again, highlighting a few reasons.

Mainly because it seems everything about it celebrates fear and death-like things. I can't seem to find a redeeming factor in it. I know that most don't agree with us on this. I'm okay with that.

In the midst of writing this, I had to go to Walgreens and buy notecards for homework purposes. So I made it into a little field trip! I went down the Halloween aisle to see what I could see. Once I pushed back the 30 foot inflatable cat, I squeezed down the aisle to find this.


creeeeepy

Now when my girls were little, we did dress them up sometimes and take them to an alternative "Harvest" party at church for fun, games and candy. In the back of my mind I still always wondered why we even had to have an alternative if it's a holiday I don't care for. Nevertheless, as a lover of fall and all things autumn, we still did it, and have lots of cute pics to this day.
(However, today my daughter acted surprised at this knowledge, like she didn't remember the church dress up events. I'm looking at her like she's absolutely crazy and she says, "Mom! I was in a costume every day of my life! I'm not sure I knew the difference!" True.)



We didn't buy them costumes. Instead, they had to use their imagination and come up with their own, using what we already owned. Only one time do I remember buying a swath of orange fabric so my oldest could be a gypsy.


gypsy
Memories are becoming foggy, but one year my middle was either a "Lost Bride" or a "Runaway Bride" because the only play wedding veil we had was torn. We do remember that in character, she had been lost, running through the woods and tore her veil on a tree. Now that's awesome use of ready made materials.


runaway bride





Today my daughter stated, "My friends all seems to think my life was empty without Halloween and Santa Claus, but really I'm quite content". (Her verbage is my daily delight). BTW, the no Santa Claus thing- we are not anti Santa Claus by any means, we just never acted like Santa was real. We sat on his lap, had his pictures on wrapping paper, but didn't act like he was real. There was no huge philosophy behind it. I guess we just didn't want to lie. (No one appears scarred.)

Another reason it's not been a big deal to not celebrate Halloween... it's my birthday! Therefore we've always called it Hollyween at our house and celebrated my birthday instead.

Back to why I started this post, I wanted to post this video by Jefferson Bethke, but I didn't want to get bashed like he did. When I said that out loud to my daughter today, she said that my job as a blogger is to stir things up (said in some better wording I've forgotten).

I said "I don't want to get bashed on my birthday!" She looked at me with that challenging look in her eye, almost implying my wimpiness, sooooo.....in honor of her, I am posting this. In honor of me and my birthday, will you please not bash me? I never mind if you share differing opinions, as long as it's done respectfully. Thanks. Totes appreciate it. Not that any of you would.

Actually I'm SO grateful I've never been bashed with mean comments on this blog, EVER, so thank you that I've never had to deal with that. I read other blogs where people take a stand or just simply say their opinion, and the comments that shoot back make me want to shut down my entire internet!! Whew.

So let's just say, whether you celebrate Halloween or not is not the issue. I said that I don't, just because I have a blog and am writing about this, but I'm not trying to coerce you into my view.

My only point, that it's taken THIS LONG to get to, LOL, is this: Moms of girls AND boys, are you aware of how some girls dress at Halloween parties these days???

I've seen many pictures on Facebook of girls literally in lingerie, walking around a party like it was nothing. I've heard moms arguing with daughters over "you are NOT wearing that out of this house".

It's become so common that girls use Halloween as an excuse to not wear much. And it's also sad to me how many costumes are sexualized, and for very young girls. Sad face.

When I saw Jefferson's video, he addresses this topic. It was interesting to hear from a guy's perspective.

He talks of before he was a Christian and how he looked forward to Halloween because he knew the girls would be dressed in next to nothing...so he saw it as a huge opportunity for him to basically freely lust after girls. (He now feels completely different and calls that attitude he had "wicked"). He talks to girls about dressing to please the Lord and not man.

I haven't been able to appropriately ponder all that he says in this video yet, but it has some good thoughts. Just wanted you to be able to see it too. Click on the link below to watch it.



Feel free to share differing opinions and thoughts as usual, just please in a respectful way.
...and Happy Hollyween!!

Thursday

Pt.2 - Eating Disorders- Prevention

Did you miss the last post? I introduced you to a blog friend, Laura, from www.pruningprincesses.combecause she is sharing a series of blogs on eating disorders. I'm jumping on board and sharing them with you, because she has done a great job covering this important topic.

First, having daughters too, Laura shares her own private thoughts as a mom of girls. As moms, I'm sure we all wonder or fear sometimes of the "what if" questions. What if I don't see it? Is she really just a picky eater? Read Laura's heartfelt intro for this series of blog posts here.

Then she took us to a story of a mom named Sadie who has struggled for years with an eating disorder. She describes a bit of what it's like inside the mind of someone struggling with an eating disorder, and thoughts she still has as a continual overcomer.

Today is Emily's Story. Her eating disorder story began at age 9.

Emily Wierenga is author of Chasing Silhouettes: How to Help a Loved One Battling an Eating Disorder a book that tells the story of redemption, the story of how a little girl decided to get better when she realized God had saved her on that hospital bed. She should have died, and she didn’t, and she was a miracle, the nurses said. 

Emily says, "I’ve written this book, with the help of professionals from Remuda Ranch, Mercy Ministries, Brookhaven Hospital, and other organizations, to help provide insight into the mind and heart of an eating disordered person."

Thank goodness for those who have decided to tell their stories and have written books like this as a resource for others. Eating disorders among girls and women are too common. Educating ourselves as much as we can, to know how to recognize signs and to know how to help others is a good thing.

 There is some research that says tendency toward eating disorders can be genetic.  There are girls who come from seemingly perfect scenarios who still struggle with eating disorders, so don't "beat yourself up" as a mom if your daughter struggles. Jump in and get informed, to help find answers. Check out these wonderful resources that Laura has shared.

Don't miss this list of prevention tips. It's never too early to start talking about body issues with girls. And as Laura states in these blogs, we have to look at our own views and habits as a mom too.


Tuesday

Sadie's Story- Eating Disorders

Hey ladies, moms and dads, grandmas, teachers, caring friends. There's a problem out there that's so hard to see sometimes, but yet so real.

Eating Disorders.

The stats are huge for how many people suffer from eating disorders. I've known too many personally who struggle. I remember being at lunch with 3 other ladies as we reminisced back on high school days. I learned that all three of the other ladies had an eating disorder in high school. Wow.

Sometimes I think about blogging on a subject, then I find someone who has already done it so well, I'd rather just share their blog with you. Today my friend Laura, of Pruning Princesses has begun a series on this subject.

Please take a moment to discover Sadie's Lifelong Struggle. Sadie is a mom of 5 daughters, with a personal history of eating disorders. She shares how she thinks, what the struggles feel like and how she overcomes.

Most importantly, she talks prevention.

More is coming up, but check out today's first story from Sadie.

Thanks friends. It's good to educate ourselves. Most likely we all know someone dealing with this issue in some way.

Wednesday

Is She Too Fat for TV?

If you have watched the news or been on Facebook today, you've probably already seen this video.

Just in case you haven't, please take a moment and watch.

October is Anti-Bullying Month, and this is a great story with which to kick it off.

A Wisconsin news anchor, Jennifer Livingston, who was the intended target of some rude email communication, has instead won the country over today and become the hero. This woman takes on her attacker in an incredibly intelligent, healthy, confident way and I love it.

A quote from the email she received from a pseudo-viewer:

"Surely you don't consider yourself a suitable example for this community's young people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain."

You can read the entire article here.

Or if you'd like to watch the  VIDEO OF THIS BRAVE WOMAN, which I would recommend, you can see the spirit in which she delivered her response.

The main point she came against was the fact that he is saying she cannot be a good role model for girls and/or people because she is overweight, which is just silly.

Yes, obesity is a problem in our country. Yes, I am overweight too. But after years of being around teen girls, just as dangerous as obesity is the opposite end of that spectrum. Girls are obsessed with having to look perfect because of all the images that surround them daily.

Eating disorders and what I'd like to call thinking disorders are just as big of a problem, just not as visible as weight. Believe me, girls struggle with body image.


Would a perfectly sized woman who is anorexic or bulimic be an okay news anchor in this guy's eyes?

I wonder.

Cheers and applause to Jennifer.