I Like Me?

For a class I'm in at school we had to write a midterm about three of our identities (like White, Woman, etc). Dissecting my status as a woman was really, really hard for me because of a lot of the experiences I've had. I feel as though I turned in my paper incomplete because since I finished I've thought of several other experiences I wanted to mention that I feel have shaped my identity in a certain way. 

I'm going to share one with you today! It's not awful and I'm over it but it has gotten me thinking about how I want to teach my kids to talk to each other. Most of my body image issues come from comments made by peers. Kids need to treat each other with respect and love, they need to know that words hurt more and last longer than physical pains.

A few years ago I was at a party at my boss' house. Everyone was just hanging out and mingling with the friends he invited that we didn't work with. The evening was uneventful to say the least. The next day at work my boss came up to me and said that one of his buddies thought I was pretty cute. (Ready for the best part?)

Boss: "He thought you were cute but said it looks like you have FP, so yeah...."

Me: "What's FP?"

Boss: "Fat potential. Like you gain weight easily and will let yourself go"

That really stuck with me for a while. Now it doesn't bother me because that guy was just a jerk and knows nothing about me. After writing that tough paper and really looking into my past I am more confident than ever that I will overcome all those mean remarks.  

Check me out!

 

(this picture was taken by my 3 year old niece....I think she did pretty good!)