Labelling our kids...

I was just glancing through some pictures on Facebook, and I was aghast at the amount of brand name labelling I'm seeing on kids.

It makes me stop and wonder... what does this teach our kids? Is that name on that $50 tee necessary in order to validate your child's importance? Existence? I've heard that argument. I've heard mothers say, "They have to have the right brand name clothes in order to even be considered cool."

Really? Is that the kind of persona or image you want your children to live up to? Brand name = cool. No brand name = uncool?

Thankfully, my kid goes to a school where just about anything goes. Yes, some kids have a few brand name hoodies, or tees -- Hollister, Lulu Lemon, Aeropostale are the big ones -- but if a kid shows up in any old name jeans and a sweater, no one really cares. Mind you, there are some kids who ONLY wear brand name, but they're not seen in any different light. Sometimes they're even called out on "wasting their money".

I'd like to think that my kids will be wearing what's comfortable, what they like, what they think looks good in the years to come. I'd like to think they will learn the value of money, the idea behind a "name". I'd like to think they will befriend others based on much more than their outward appearance or the clothes they are (or aren't) wearing.

Am I crazy in these thoughts? Am I setting my kids up to be "uncool"?

I'm gonna say it out loud

Bikinis really bother me. I don't like them. I don't like them especially when I see young girls -- tweens, teens -- wearing skimpy and skimpier versions of them to attract male attention. Lately, I've seen pictures splattered all over Facebook -- or, as some of my relatives call it, "The Facebook".

Take a look at that word now, will you?

Facebook.

A compound word. (You would have learned about those in grammar, that foreign ancient subject in school days of lorn.) First word being face. Meaning that upper part of your body; the front of your head. Second word being book. (For more accurate definitions with those fancy spelling and phonetic thingies, seek out your favourite on-line dictionary.)

On the Facebook, I like to see pictures of happy, sad, grumpy, humorous faces. I like my feed to be a welcome sort of, open book, to the faces and lives of my friends and family.

It's not called "Boobbook".  I don't need to see people's knockers hanging, barely suspended by dental floss like pieces of material. I do not need to see the supposed red carpet pose (complete with duck face), as these scantly clad people stand next to a spruce tree at the local 'beach'.

But, I digress...

It's not just about my Facebook feed. It's about the image that these females are portraying to young men. It's about the seeking of attention... full body, gawking, LOOK-AT-MINE-ME! attention that these females are seeking to draw to themselves. Image. That's it. Maybe it's not the bikinis I loathe, but the foreboding image that comes attached with them... to them.

I have a young daughter. I've felt the need to start talking to her at this early age about bikinis. We talk about why people wear them. We talk about swimming at the beach. The need to be comfortable. The need to be comfortable in the skin you're in. We talk about skin cancer. We talk about drawing unnecessary attention to one's self. We talk about tankinis and how they can show a person's athleticism and can still look "cool". We talk about a lot of things when the topic of bikinis comes up, or when we're at the beach.

Maybe I'm just a prude. Maybe I see bikinis in too much negative light. But, in my value set, I see the need to educate my daughter openly about the choices we make as females, the images that prevail, the images that are portrayed, the hurdles to come, and the hurdles that have been overcome.

And, she and I will visit this blog post 7 to 10 years down the road if we have to.
It's a long road... and as I walk it right now... I don't like bikinis.

Um, it's kinda about covering your ass...

Well, there's one reason for this post.... staffroom conversations.
Sometimes they're good. Sometimes they're pure poison. This morning's was good (and it involves moms!).

It had to do with clothes. Mom clothes.
Don't fret...
It wasn't about the dreaded mom jeans... or granny drawers. Instead it was about their antecedents!

Jeans
Once you become a mom, unless you've got some fine genes (hardy har har, no pun intended) in your make up, we're thinking that the extra "skinnage" we tend to acquire is something that can't be officially avoided nor ignored. (Yes, yes, yes, we try... we try to exercise, eat right, nip, tuck, blast it away, but for most of us, it's still there... and so is the chocolate cake on the kitchen cupboard and the gooey alfredo pasta on the restaurant menu!)

Our collective solution: Reitmans Comfort Fit pants! All 5 of us who were discussing clothes in the staff room this morning had on Comfort Fit pants! (It's casual day; we all had jeans on.) I swear by them. I wore Comfort Fit dress pants through my whole pregnancy. Saved a fortune. Now? They hide the rolls. They nip & tuck without surgery. They are stylin! We love them. We recommend them. We think you need to experience them.

Drathais / Drawers / Skivvies / Underwear / Panties (I HATE that word)
Gone are the days of thongs, lacy little numbers, and all those other adventurous items I wore down there at one time. I've inherited my grandmother's arse. It's not a minor item. And post-pregnancy I'm all about comfort. I searched and searched for the perfect underwear that:

• were comfortable
• created no lines in dress pants
• wouldn't ride up, over or around any undesirable areas

It's been a long and arduous journey, but I've found them!
Womens Denver Hayes PERFECT FIT PANTY 2-Pack Briefs
Get your arse to Mark's Work Wearhouse NOW!
They are amazing. I've turned half the female staff onto these perfectly fitting, covering gems.
3 of the 5 of us in the staffroom today are wearing them.
The only thing that would make these better was if they came in a nude/neutral colour.
I love them. Long time.


So there you go. Our arses are comfortably covered.
We care about your arse, too. Give them a try!

Note: I've received no renumeration from the above mentioned companies, nor do I work for them or am associated with them in anyway (except for regularly shopping there!). However, should representatives wish to offer me free merchandise for singing their praises... my arse would love it!