Dangerous Curves

I have never known a woman who was perfectly happy with her body.  Society has insisted, since the beginning of the twentieth century, that perfection is thin and fragile.  We are inundated with images of boyish, angular women as the ideal of beauty. We have raised several generations of girls with lousy self-esteem and miserable body image, because images and fashions cater to bone-thin figures.  Sadly, the full-figured woman has been largely ignored by modern designers and advertisers, depriving society of real women who are comfortable in their own beauty. This was not always the case!  Prior to the appearance of the “flapper” in the early 1900′s, the “perfect” woman was curvy and comfortable, with an “ample” bosom and well-shaped legs.  In the words of poet Eugene Field:

“Plump of neck and bust and arms; While the raiment that invested Her so jealously suggested Certain more potential charms…”

A look at classic beauty, as shown in great art and described in literature, will reveal that it was the voluptuous and curvy woman that turned heads and made the truly lasting impression, up until modern times.  Take, for instance, the famous sculpture of Nike of Samothrace, more commonly called “Winged Victory”.  The sculpture featured the perfect female form as envisioned by its creator, circa the 3rd century B.C.  The likeness of a curvaceous and well-formed female figure, clad in a filmy, clinging fabric, evokes a reawakening of our own appreciation for a female shape that actually has shape!  Even though the sculpture is missing its head, we know when we look at it that we are viewing a perfectly beautiful female form.

Winged Victory

Moving from Greece, 300 B.C. to Victorian England, we still see, nearly 2000 years later, that the epitome of feminine beauty is still the plus-sized woman.  The ladies of good families were plump and pretty.  Frequently, in literature, we read of the dour housekeeper or cruel governess being thin and sharp featured, while the young ladies of good families are round and soft.  Charlotte Bronte wrote:

“Hers was the beauty that strikes the eyes like a rose — orbed, ruddy, and replete…plump, and pink, and flaxen.”

Visions of complicated undergarments and frothy bits of lace and silk worn by 19th century vixens still influence our most romantic ideas of lingerie.  We need to bear in mind that these were made for women of shape and style, and are just as sensuous

and alluring on the full-figured form as on any other.  We need to celebrate curves – whether in “granny panties” or “thongs”.  If we have them, we need to flaunt them and if we don’t, we need to appreciate the beauty of those who do.  The woman who is comfortable in her own beauty, whether of generous proportions or not, is by far the most attractive.

A Family That Rides Together, Stays Together!

There’s nothing like taking to the open road for a memorable family get away.   My husband and I are avid motorcycle riders and absolutely love riding.  It’s a trait that we’ve happily passed on to our two sons.  Although it will be awhile before they’re old enough to ride a motorcycle on the streets, they have taken to dirt bikes and quads like fish to water.  I think it’s important, if your children are interested in riding, to teach them while they’re young.  This builds their confidence and as they get older they’re comfortable and not fearful of riding bigger and more powerful bikes.   

As long as I can remember my husband has always had a motorcycle.  He’s had everything from Harley Davidson to BMW bikes.  By far our favorite motorcycle and what we both ride today is the Honda Gold Wing.  Riding is a passion of his and he is by far the safest motorcycle rider I know.  He’s passed that knowledge on to the boys so that safety is their number one priority.  On all our trips we wear safety gear that could save our lives in case of an accident.  Helmets, gloves, goggles and a lot of leather – jackets, chaps and steel toe boots are always worn.  I love that today women can find great apparel and boots that are comfortable and most importantly stylish!  Red Wing brand has a great line of men and women’s motorcycle boots that are perfect.

I didn’t start riding until about ten years ago when I realized I didn’t want to be a rider on the back of my husband’s bike any more, I wanted to drive.  I took the Honda weekend safety course and got my motorcycle license.  From that point on I didn’t stop riding.  We both have Honda Gold Wings that are beautifully painted with matching trailers for those long trips with the boys.  Those trailers may look small but you won’t believe the room in them.  Everything goes in there from suitcases and laptops to sleeping bags and tents. 

We’ve taken the boys on many trips now and they enjoy it as much as we do.  I usually ride with my younger son, Zach, on the back of mine and he loves to sing as we’re riding.  Our helmets have the intercom system built into them so that we can all communicate with each other and I always have to remind him to turn his intercom off so that I can actually hear the radio without hearing his singing over top of it

Every year we all go to the annual Honda Hoot rally in Knoxville Tennessee.  It’s so much fun because we know a lot of the venders and everybody is there with one thing in common – riding.  It’s always fun to pick up a new pair of gloves or chaps and to see the latest in technology from helmets to seat pads.  The boys always look forward to the different exhibitions of dirt bike riders doing some amazing tricks and jumps. Sadly I recently heard that the Honda Hoot was cancelled for 2009 due to economic reasons — sure hope they return in 2010!

It’s a lot of fun and a great way that we can spend family time together.  Kids grow up so fast and I’m sure it won’t be long before mine are off and riding their own motorcycles.  But for now I’m enjoying taking long (and short) motorcycle trips with the ones I love!

Role Playing for Children

There are not too many more engaging or inspiring words in the English language than “Let’s Pretend”. In early childhood, these words become a magic carpet that can take a child to places and situations beyond their experience. Sometimes, more importantly, it can enable a child to explore feelings and situations that are affecting their own development.

Creative role play can expand horizons and help a child encounter new situations in a safe and controlled fashion. Parents who encourage “dress up” playtime may observe attitudes or behaviors that need further attention. Directed pretend play can help shape a child’s perspective and social skills, particularly in the areas of negotiation and problem solving, learning leadership skills and understanding the perspective of others. There is also a body of evidence suggesting that, because creative role play encourages emotion, cognition, language and sensory motor skills, it may have a direct impact on a child’s intelligence.

So how do we, as parents, use role play to benefit our children? It’s not as hard as it sounds. Usually, the first form of role play our children experience, is imitating us. Pretending to vacuum, pounding on a workbench, “going shopping”, driving a toy car are all early steps in developing an understanding of the world and real life activities.

 Playing “dress up” allows a child to become someone else, real or imaginary (and no, I’m not referring to having kids dress up in sexy costumes!). This activity helps a child to explore the real life roles of the people in their world, and to imagine characters from stories or their imaginations. When purchasing a Halloween costume, look for one that your child would like to “be” all year long. It could be helpful to have a dress up box that includes an animal costume, as well as costumes and props representing different career choices, and imaginary or historical figures.

Eventually, your child will want to act out favorite stories, so include something in your dress up box that reminds them of the books you read together. You may want to encourage your children to act out the stories, or dances for a family audience. This helps to develop talent and self-esteem. And who can argue that applause helps build confidence?

 Make room in your home for a place where make believe is not only allowed, but encouraged. From a refrigerator box to a tree house, these magical spaces allow your child to feel free to be anyone or anything.

 Finally, make time to be a part of your child’s role play activities. Your participation tells him that it’s good to explore and experience new things. It also allows them to show you, either by behavior or dialogue, things that bother or confuse them. Your reaction and response to their pretend situations will help them understand and model their own appropriate behavior. Don’t hesitate to throw on that superhero cape and save the day!

Obama’s Plan is Flawed

Obama’s plan sounds good to most people because he speaks of “redistributing wealth” by taking from the rich and giving to the poor. As much as Obama sounds like Robin Hood these days, if he would just study history he would know this plan for stimulating the economy is fundamentally flawed. Imposing higher taxes on the wealthy will prove detrimental to the economy.

Obama has this trickle up theory that by giving money to the poor he is giving them opportunity, but in reality he is only continuing to enable them to stay in the same rut that most of them were born into. The reality is that when taxes are raised for the wealthy it will discourage the economic leaders from expanding and working.  Many middle and lower class individuals view “rich people” as greedy. While in reality those who are wealthy are simply motivated to gain more wealth. 

Take any upper level executive for example. He will work all the overtime he can, while he sacrifices time with his family in order to climb the ladder and get ahead. This executive will see the prize, he will find pride in being able to provide his family with a comfortable lifestyle and find pride in his successes. His wealth has come at a price, but he was willing to work hard and make sacrifices to reach his goals. Obama’s proposal to increase taxes on the wealthy while giving tax breaks for the poor will cause this executive to work fewer hours to stay out of the upper tax brackets. This executive like so many others will take more time with his family and more vacations. He will cut back on the expansion of his business and likely lay off some of his employees. Hopefully, you can see how this will be detrimental to the economy as a whole.

The blame cannot be placed on the executive because with the proposed tax increases the upper class will be able to work less hours and make the same money as if they worked more hours and paid higher taxes. Anyone would make the decision to work less. We should also keep in mind that the majority of tax dollars paid into the economy are paid from the wealthy who are smaller in numbers but pay substantially more in taxes.

Aside from the fact that Obama’s plan sounds  much like socialism, it just doesn’t make sense to let most of our society live off the hard work of a relatively few motivated people.  Obama’s plan will essentially force small businesses to cut jobs in order to pay higher taxes in an attempt to spread the wealth to those who choose to sit at home, uneducated and make babies.