Lessons I learned from my Daddy

In honor of Father's Day, I'm going to share the five best lessons I have learned from my daddy. I had quite a long list of lessons he has taught me that would be worth sharing, but these were the five that have impacted my life the most. 

You will be smarter than many people, and it will frustrate you

 

Ever since I can remember, my dad warned me that there are dumb people in the world. And I would just shake my head and think "Dad, you are so cynical." 

But, like usual, he is right. It's not a matter of intelligence or not, but some people are hesitant to take advice, receive help or learn something new from a 20-something.

And my dad told me when I come across these people to not get frustrated, but rather show them your abilities in every way possible, until they see your talents.

Little gestures mean the most

 

My dad mows my grandmother's grass twice a week. Why? Because he can. He checks her car monthly to make sure it is running and will occasionally fill her tank. Every time he goes to visit her for dinner he brings a bottle of wine.

Now if he did not do these things for her she would love him just the same. But instead of spending time on himself, he always makes sure to spend most of his time on others.

Never say no to ice cream

 

This is just common sense to me now. Because who ever says no to ice cream? But I have realized a lot of people do.

Whenever I am in the mood for some Mr. Freeze the first person I ask if my dad. Why? Because he will never say no.

Even if he only eats two bites, we always go on our ice cream dates. But you don't fool me, dad. I know you just say yes to hang out with your busy 21-year-old that's too cool for you, instead of the decedent desserts. 

Friends are the family you get to choose 

 

My dad taught me that friends are the absolute most important thing in your life. Because your not stuck together by blood, but rather you picked each other.

Every Christmas Eve my dad goes to a party with his friends, because your supposed to spend the holidays with your family and loved ones, and his friends are those people to him. Just like my friends are those people to me.

Work for what you want 

 

This started all when I wanted a puppy.

My dad said, "Convince me." So I wrote a three page long paper about why we needed a puppy.

So we got a puppy.

My dad still makes me do this. And whenever I can't think of a good enough argument to have something in my life, well then I don't really need it, do I?

 Happy Father's Day, daddy. I love you, man.

Confessions of a Skinny Girl

I read this on Facebook today:

Status: I don't understand it, but I get jealous of any girl that is prettier and skinnier than me.
Comment: You may only see the outward appearances of those girls and think they have it all, but what you've got is very special set of gifts that they don't have - step out with that great smile of yours and rock on, girl!

Uhm, what?

So, you are telling me that if I am pretty that I am only pretty on the outside? That if I am skinny I can't be smart or nice or any other positive attribute?

Well, this is news to me.

This blog post is to all my skinny girls, who are never allowed to defend themselves because "we're so lucky to be thin." Gag.

*Gasp* *Oh my, Gosh*

How dare I relate myself to being skinny.

I have been wanting to write this blog for awhile about our body bashing culture. No, I am not talking about obese women, but rather the body bashing of skinny girls.

The culture where it is okay to say that being skinny is unrealistic. That skinny isn't beautiful.

The culture where it is okay to be told to "Go eat." But, I could never tell someone to "Eat less."

The culture where people talk about women's "unrealistic" bodies in magazines and the media, and I am never allowed to say, "Hey, I look like that, so it IS realistic." That would make me conceited.

A culture where people can refer to me as the "skinny girl" but I can never refer to them as the "fat girl."

A culture where people will tell a skinny girl they don't want to stand next to you in a picture because you "make them look bad."

A culture where skinny girls feel like they have to wear loose fitting clothes because others will comment on their body, and my favorite is when they are referred to as a "slut."

A culture where people can exaggerate all the time about a skinny girls weight: "Oh, but you're like 2 pounds." (Thank you for telling me I weigh the size of a Chipotle burrito). But I could never tell someone, "Oh, you're like 1,000 pounds."

A culture where ads are being directed against thin women. In Dove's "Real Beauty" campaigns, there are no extremely skinny girls. So what are they trying to say to us? I must not be "real beauty." Hmm, thanks. 

A culture where if you eat healthy or work out, people will ask, "Why do you do that? You don't need to." Uhm, sorry for being healthy. But when a larger person does this they are praised, "Good for you for taking care of yourself."

Not fair.

When I googled "Confessions of a Skinny Girl" and "Confessions of a Fat Girl" the amount of blogs and sites of the latter easily outnumbered the skinny girl confessions. Why? Because the moment you relate yourself to being thin, you're arrogant. But if you identify yourself as fat, you're a hero.

The worst part about this? Some of us truly can't help being skinny, and many of us work hard to be healthy in order to have a thin body. 

Why is skinny not allowed to be beautiful?

I'm not advocating that skinny girls should bash back. I just hope that people realize that even though we may be smaller than the average woman, it doesn't make us less of a person.

It's okay for skinny girls to feel beautiful, too.