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Life size Barbie proportions

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I was a Barbie girl. I did not really play with dolls, or horses (except My Little Pony), or cars, or trains. I played with Barbies. I had about 12 of them (not sure if that is normal or not). I had a light pink Barbie corvette, a townhouse with an elevator that went up and down with a string pulley (it was the 80’s). I had the Barbie salon where you could use wash their hair, and color it using special “markers” that washed out later. They do not tell you that you can color Barbie’s hair, but you should never cut it (Barbie will never look the same again). I had exercise Barbie, ballroom Barbie, wedding Barbie and wedding Ken, I had bikini Barbie (she got the haircut), and a slew of others I do not remember. All of these were gifts given over many birthdays, and they were dearly loved.

I was reminded of my Barbie memories after a conversation at work yesterday that originated from superheros dimensions to Barbie dimensions. We then found the following article about if Barbie was life-size what would she actually look like. (For those of you that do not click the link you are missing out, it is quite shocking). The article explains that Barbie would be 5 foot 9 inches, weight 110 pounds, wear a size 3 shoe, a 39″ bust, 18″ waist, and 33″ hips. Gulp. So if you still have not clicked the link, do so now.

What is funny about my experience with Barbies (for those of you with young little girls) is I think playing with them got a lot of the girly stuff out of my system. I have a lot of friends that purposely ban Barbie and other toys that do not lead to positive images of women. Then those are the only toys they want. I do not know what I’ll do when I have kids. There is a part of me that thinks that I will feel the same way, that it will just be a yuck feeling I will have about any toys that do not lead to a positive, strong view of women. Having said all that, I loved playing with my Barbies and would beg my sister to play with me. Now I am starting to think that being all girly when I was young has meant I am not as girly now. So maybe it was not such a bad thing.

Regardless of if I got it out of my system, did I know at that age that Barbie was not anatomically correct? Probably not. However, I do think Mattel should fix Barbie so that she is more normal/true to real woman size. Convincing Mattel should not be that hard right? Ha.

Have a great weekend! Hope the sun is shining..

EmpowHER Blogger Network

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I recently became affiliated with the EmpowHER Blogger Network. EmpowHER is a Social Health Community for Women. I highly recommend taking a moment to explore their website. You will find many women bloggers writing about women’s issues, health and wellness, exercise, eating, weight, etc. While there are lots of pages of things I might not be as interested about (on diseases, or not so happy topics) I am sure that many folks find the resources on the website helpful to them. I wanted to share their website for those of you that might be interested, as I follow their exercise and eating healthy topics.

Exercise and healthy eating is NOW important to me, but it has not always been. I grew up in Indiana, where I might have mentioned in a past blog post that corn should have been listed as the state vegetable. There is a small amusement park/area in Indiana called: Indiana Beach. They have a tagline of: “There is more than corn in Indiana.” I am not sure I believe them! Well, truth be told, I grew up hating my vegetables. It took at least until I was twenty-five years old and married before I would start to enjoy eating any vegetable (thank you, hubby for making them so yummy). I started to enjoy vegetables because of how he prepared them, and also because living in Oregon there are a vast variety of vegetables that grow local and are fresh and easily accessible to obtain, especially with our many farmers markets.

Lots of things have happened in my life since my vegetable breakthrough, I will not go into those now, but I will tell you that what has resulted from all those things is an excitement for eating healthy and for consistent exercise. Friends that knew me from a younger age are still shocked at my transformation with food. I now willingly ask for vegetables at restaurants, crave them, and know that they are benefiting my health. Changing my diet has changed my mood, my energy level, and driven me to be motivated to stay in shape and be healthy. As I have changed my diet, I have also gotten into running. I try to run at least 6 days a week, it has been a great stress release from the day. The other idea on my list to try is boxing, this article about women boxing workouts on the EmpowHER site has inspired me to see where I can start boxing in my area. Here is another good article from their website on 5 Ways to Exercise Everyday.

Take a moment to explore their website!

Should kids have to work for an allowance?

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I am still on a kick about the book: “All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending” by Laura Vanderkam. This is the topic that I have been mulling over: Kids and Allowance. On page 210, Laura says:

“For instance, should kids get an allowance? It seems like a straightforward way to teach them how to manage money. Give them $5-$10 a week, and let them handle their small purchases out of that. Likewise, financial education for high schoolers sounds smart. Given the proportion of adults who live paycheck to paycheck and don’t understand what the interest rates on their credit card mean in terms of payments, it can’t hurt to teach kids about money.”

I take it one step further and ask: Should kids have to work for an allowance? I think growing up, my sister, brother, and I occasionally received an allowance. We definitely had to work for it. I can remember often my father would check our work and if it was not done well, we would not get paid. Honestly I do not think they had the money to truly pay us an allowance, so finding our work not perfect was maybe a way out of paying us. Other times he would find things around the house to give us in payment for the chores we had done. Once I remember receiving a caramel/chocolate candy bar that we were selling for school. So I guess in my house growing up it was more of the barter system. Even with the odd and inconsistent payment system I experienced, I do believe there is a purpose and educational aspect of receiving an allowance for chores or tasks. It starts kids out at a young age to know what it means to work and get paid for it. It teaches the value of money. It could be that if a child was willing to do more, they could get paid more (like overtime for adults, if the parents have the funds to do so). Parents could also institute a bonus system for excellent quality of work or attitude just as some adults may receive a bonus based on performance depending on their company.

If parents give an allowance without having to work for it, what life skills are the kids learning? When they become adults do they receive money without having to work for it? Maybe if they have a trust fund, but for the rest of us, we have to work hard for the money we are paid. I believe that hard work makes us think differently about our money, what we purchase, and how we spend or save. Does working for an allowance teach kids the beginning value of money in their lives? One could make the point that kids can learn the value of money and saving without having to work for it. I agree that it can be taught, however, those kids that have the opportunity to learn about the basics of money and how to manage it, in addition to having to work for it is an even better educational life experience.

I wonder what would financial education look like for high schoolers? I had an economics course in high school where we learned about stocks and bonds. I remember the simulation of our “made up companies” and how well our stocks did, but I never learned about the basics: balancing a checkbook, my credit report, credit score, credit card debt, etc. It was almost as though we went straight to Economics 3.0 but skipped 1.0 and 2.0. If we allow teenagers to drive cars at 16 (in many states), and allow them to be in control of expensive, heavy machinery, then why do we not ever teach them about their financial future? Did you learn what you know now from your parents, or from trial and error as an adult?

What do you think? Should kids have to work for their allowance?

Do you have self-control and willpower?

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A week or so ago, I finished reading: The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal. It is a good book that makes you think about when you use self-control and willpower and when you choose otherwise. I have been fascinated with the concept of willpower lately, and why some of us have a ton of self-control and others do not. Kelly explains why this happens in her book.

One of the stories she shares about willpower talks about Valerie and her mother. Valerie’s mom has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s and could no longer live by herself. Valerie and her family made the decision to have her mother moved to a long-term care facility. Valerie felt responsible for visiting her mother everyday and since her other siblings did not live nearby, Valerie was left in charge. The situation made her very angry. To deal with her frustrations, on the way home from the care facility each night, she would stop by the nearby grocery and eat cupcakes and other sweets to feel better about herself. Valerie learns about a breathing technique in one of Kelly McGonigal’s Harvard classes, that teaches an individual to release their feelings while doing this breathing technique. Here is what shifted for Valerie after trying this specific technique:

“In time, the grocery store ritual lost its appeal and was replaced with a moment-by-moment willingness to feel whatever came up throughout the day. Valerie was even able to bring that same willingness to her visits with her mother, letting herself feel her frustration instead of telling herself she wasn’t angry at her mother. It didn’t change the situation, but it took away some of the stress.” p. 221

What I love about this experience is that while Valerie used the breathing techniques to release feelings and frustrations about the situation she is in with her mother, we can all shift our thoughts (whether through breathing exercises or shifting how we think about situations) so that we make sure to feel and process our feelings as we go through our days. For the example with Valerie, she cannot really change her situation, but she can change how she approaches her situation, and the choices she makes when she leaves the care facility each day. Guess what?! Valerie also stopped going to the grocery store and eating sweets. Releasing her feelings allowed her to be with her situation and she did not have to eat sweets to cope.

Are there things in your day that you could approach differently and feel as you go through your day, so you are completely present with how things truly are?

Tomorrow is TAX day…

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Did you have a good weekend? I did. It was not long enough though, I still have a long list of items on my To-Do list. Next weekend I guess. Chris and I went to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival with friends and their precious little ones. It is the perfect place to take kids. The adults can enjoy the flowers (and I think the vast tulip field intrigues the kids too) but they do a wonderful job of having activities and rides for children too. We had wanted to go for a while and Saturday turned out to be the perfect day, the sun was out and it was slightly warmer!

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

So tomorrow is tax day. Have you submitted your taxes? I had to remember (and Google) why we have Tax Day on April 17 this year. Since the 15th falls on a Sunday, usually it would be the 16th, but it is Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia, so for 2012 it is on April 17. We just shelled out a chunk of change to the IRS. It is always the dilemma, do you pay more throughout the year and get a refund, or do you have less taken out and have to pay in April? I can see it both ways, but I have to say in the end it is never fun to write a big fat check to Uncle Sam. (By the way, I have always felt bad for those men out there that are named Sam, that are also uncles – your name gets a bad rap does it not?)

So since many of us have to pay out a ton of money tomorrow, maybe it is also a day that we should pamper ourselves and do something that feels good. Something relaxing, something happy, something soothing. I enjoy the EaterPDX website for updates on new restaurants and food happenings in Portland. They have shared a list of restaurants nationwide that are giving discounts and deals on Tax Day, April 17. It might feel nice to get a deal if you just shelled out some cash to Uncle Sam.

Enjoy yourself tomorrow, don’t let the IRS get you down.