As a child there were 3 things I desperately wanted to change about myself, Anne Shirley-style:
- I wanted red hair – something I did eventually achieve thanks to every shade of red hair dye in existence until I realized halfway through college that I look really bad as a redhead. My skin has pink undertones and when I have red hair I just look like a hot mess.
- I wanted to be skinnier – sad but true fact: In my diary written by my 8-year-old self was a list of “Everything I Must Do Before Bed !!!!!” and it included 200 crunches, 200 leg lifts and if I could “pinch an inch” 200 bicycles. Thankfully it also included lining up my dolls at the end of my bed in order of whom I loved most that day. Yep, I’ve had disordered eating behaviors for almost 3 decades.
- But most of all, I wanted to be an identical twin. Whether it was Jessica & Elizabeth in Sweet Valley High or Haley whats-her-name times two in the old Parent Trap (holy crap did I love that movie!), identical twins seemed to me to be the coolest thing ever. Unfortunately for me I came out of the womb alone although in college my brother and I would tell his dates we were identical twins just to see how dumb they were.
Other posts I wrote this week:
13 Things Parents Wish Other People Knew About Their Kids. (I originally titled it “The #1 Thing Parents Wish They Could Tell Non-Parents” but that caused a crapstorm the likes of which my Facebook has never seen before. In the end I think it turned out very educational for everyone involved! So the next time you see a kid completely losing it in the grocery, please think of this list!)
A grape here, a granola bar there – does eating in the store constitute stealing if you intend to pay for it? I’ll admit to doing this one quite a bit, especially with my kids. Feeding them a bag of animal crackers buys me 20 minutes of peaceful shopping! But a Hawaiian woman was recently arrested for this when she forgot to pay on her way out. Crazy ensued. And it made me rethink the whole debate.
Scariest Ad Ever! The Michigan Department of Health uses shock tactics to scare parents out of co-sleeping.
There’s still time to enter my Bare Escentuals giveaway and my T-Tapp giveaway!
Also: TODAY (Friday, Nov 18) if you comment on MizFit’s post on the Anytime Fitness debacle, Anytime Fitness will donate 10$ PER COMMENT to charity!
Did you want to change anything about yourself when you were a kid? Did you end up doing it??
See? Twins are awesome! Uploaded with ImageShack.us
LOVED the article about what parents want non-parents to understand!!!!!
Anne Of Green Gables=much love!
I think handing an empty package to the checkout clerk is legit. I’ve always been too paranoid to eat a grape or what have you in the store. But I’m generally a paranoid person, so I’m not the best source.
When I was 12 I listened to Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” album (on vinyl!) every night in my room and did a workout. Jumping jacks, running in place, sit-ups, push-ups, etc. Aside from making the album skip, I got a bit obsessive about my workouts, thus setting myself up for 30 years of misery.
In college I dyed my hair deep purple.
Big mistake.
But I was a theater student living in Greenwich Village. In the 80’s. So no one noticed it.
The parents article was great!
Everyone thought my sister and I were twins growing up, as we were close in age and looked alike. But we had very different personalities, so the older we got the more different we tried to look.
I have always been surrounded by twins, so I never wanted to be one. My best friends are identical twins, and I have identical twin brothers. I think the allure is lost on me. Red hair, on the other hand, I’ve always wanted!
I’m definitely guilty of eating in the store. Or drinking a bottle of water if I stop after the gym and I’m out. I might have even eaten a grape or two. 😉
that last pic? It could be my grandfather… only my grandfather was 60 pounds at 6 months old… and YES you read that correctly… he made newsreels (the ones that played before movies) and his sister would make money taking him out in a baby pram – charging people money to see him up close…
anyways what did I want to change about myself as a child…
1) oddly enough, despite NOT seeing Forrest Gump until college, I wanted to be a bird and fly far far away… Birds have been a part of my life ever since that.
2) I wanted to be a boy if I couldn’t be a bird – because my father wanted a boy
3) I wanted to wear glasses as my best friend had them — one of the reasons I am SO adamant about not lying and I think why I’m so prone to feeling guilty — I actually am pretty sure I made myself need glasses by faking straining my eyes in class and then purposefully messing up an eye exam. Wearing glasses (albeit a “light” prescription) I truly believe damaged my eyes
Eek, don’t say you actually did all those crunches, leg lits etc at 8!
Well, because I’m ancient it’s hard to remember what I wanted. But I think wanted to have corkscrew curls (I have a perfectly straight hair) and I dreamed of wearing the kind of long dresses I saw people use in historical movies (corkscrew curls go with that).
Sadly, these days I just wear jeans and t-shirts, and my hair is very short and straight. 🙂
Oh man, I relate to this. I used to imagine that when I slept a fairy would come and make me “pretty” i.e. blonde, blue eyed, and shapely.
In all fairness I do dye my hair blonde now and it’s actually much more flattering than my natural brown. (I was brown for the first time in 5 years for two months this year and HATED it.)
I also used to wish that I had a sister- especially a twin sister!
It really bugs me when I see people opening up packages of food at the grocery store. I’ve witnessed some folks furtively sneaking the packages back on the shelves when they think nobody is looking. In addition, I’ve seen people allowing their kids to reach into the bulk bins to eat whatever they want. I really doubt that these folks are planning to tell the cashier “Oh, my kids ate 1.2 oz of gummy worms.”
Grocery stores do not operate on the “honor system”. Pay first, then eat!
Thank you! I wholeheartedly agree. I live in Hawaii and shop at the store that had the woman arrested and I don’t feel bad for them AT all. Her and her husband popped open sandwiches, walked around the store like it was their personal buffet and then were shocked when they got arrested for STEALING…which, ya know, they did. Amazing.
I wanted my Mom to be well and do things with me. To do something to make my father proud and to be pretty and skinny.
I wanted a twin too! My little sister and I looked a lot a like- so we used to pretend we were twins. And orphans. We pretended to be the boxcar children a lot. my poor parents.
I always wanted shirley temple curly hair too. I am so glad now that I do not. Whew- that would be hard to deal with!
And why are rolls on babies so freaking adorable? Why can’t I look so cute with rolls like that? = )
Hi Charlotte: I happen to be selling one twin (cheap), so if you want her, send me 50 zlotys right away and you can drag her home by her dyed little roots. And I sometimes open a protein drink in the store, then stick it in an obvious place in the cart so everyone will know I’m not trying to steal, I”m just way too thirsty to wait an hour. And thank you for saying I’m amazing, awesome, hilarious and sweet. Not sure what that leaves for Kymberly. But she’s your problem now! hahahah.
I still harbor the fantasy that I’ll discover I have an identical twin, separated at birth! My mother claims this ain’t gonna happen, but I hold out hope she’s been lying to me all these years because the idea is just too fascinating.
I will confess that when I was 11/12 I would watch the movie “Clueless” and take notes on how to be cool. I would right down fake nails, highlights, drive a jeep, etc.
Oh, I had always wanted a twin, too. I went to school with three sets of them, plus grew up in the age of Mary-Kate and Ashley everything. Obviously didn’t achieve that one…
I was the youngest of 4 so no, never wanted to be a twin! 😉 Although in adult life, I have had so many people come up to me that think I am somebody else & then say I could be that person’s twin. I had no idea so many people & I looked alike… YIKES!
I wanted straight hair of course! I wanted to be cute & thin cause I was fat as a kid. Even now, I still want straight hair! 😉
my last name.
TOOOO JEWISH identifying.
and then, when I had the chance, I kept it.
Oh my gosh!!! I’ve always always wanted red hair too!!! Surprising huh. Hmmm…maybe WE are identical twins?!?!?! 😉
This article made me realize that real beauty comes within and can be worked out with proper exercise and healthy food intake.
Great article – first pic is not twins – we are first cousins (pic taken by my father 50 years ago after I pinched my cousin Cindy)
: )
Twins are viewed as identical though when it comes to behavior and personality they will surely differ from one another.
This is very usefull post. Anyway, it was hard to find it – maybe consider doing some SEO for your blog?
Hey Frugal Fitness Fans! Did my first radio interview a few weeks ago with the Fun & Fit Radio Show hosts Alexandra and Kymberly Williams. While I don’t exactly have the best radio voice and minimal practice, I think it went pretty well overall and they did a great job guiding the conversation! Plenty of good information to get fit on a shoestring budget and a little humor thrown in for good measure! The radio show is brought to you by the Women’s Radio network and it was an honor to be a part of their programming, hope to do some more work with them down the road (hopefully when I improve my phone / radio skills haha). Hope you enjoy and stay frugal my friends