Fair

It was bedtime. We told the girls how much money they would be earning from the last week. We have started giving them a dollar a week and we subtract 5 cents every time they disobey or talk back. This was mostly instituted in response to Abigail never feeling like she has any money (even though she has unlimited offers to do extra chores and earn some) and as a tool to manage our newly created pre-teen daughter.

I informed the girls that they all lost 50 cents for wasting all the body wash in the bathtub. They started going on and on about it not being fair.

LG instantly went into his lecture, "Do you want to talk about fair? Do you really want to go there? It's not fair that mom does all the dishes, when you all dirty them? It's not fair that mom has to wash all the clothes, when you guys dirty them. It's not fair that mom cleaned up that whole playroom the other day when she didn't make one bit of the mess...." (Man, LG was so convincing that I almost started crying in response to my unfair situation too)

Abigail is always looking for her opportunity to show her intellect: "Actually dad, that is fair, because those are mom's jobs."

So I HAD to chime in, "Alright, it's not fair that that is my job. It's not fair that you all got to ride your bikes today and dad and I had to walk because we can't afford to buy ourselves bikes after paying for yours. It's not fair that ..."

LG took back over, "It's not fair that I went to school for ten years and I still am not making any money, it's not fair that I went to school for ten years to hate my job...it's not fair that I am fat."

So, I HAD to show my intellect: "Actually, honey, that last one is kind of fair."

Bella had to show off the intellect of the youngest member of the family: "Yeah dad, you are the one that eats all the food that makes you fat."

LG: "Well, it's not fair that when you eat food, it makes you fat."

Why does food have to make us fat? And, yes, there is a theme going on in my mind..it's called we are all trying to change our lifestyle around here....it's just not fair that we all have to eat right and exercise, is it?

Last night we went as a family to the Community Walk To Myrtle Beach Kick Off. We are excited to try and walk 360 miles over the next 12 weeks. We had to get our weight and height, BMI and body fat tested...talk about motivation.

Well, at one point this stranger weighed in right next to me. He was a very healthy looking guy and weighed in at 146. I looked over at the scale right at the wrong time and quickly apologized explaining that I wasn't trying to spy. "But", I explained, "I want you to know that I would do anything to be at your weight." All the Health Dept. officials looked at me dumbfounded, so I chimed in with the further explanation they were waiting for, "except eat right and exercise of course." They all seem to be pleased that their original scowls got the desired answer and gave me their approval with a few big smiles.

And, can I just vent for a second. These officials were trying to change the computer results to make my kids overweight. I was ticked. I had to give them some wisdom, "Just because my husband and I are fat, it doesn't mean that our children are.....how do you think we got this fat? We've been doing everything we can to keep them healthy." I TOLD THEM. They quickly understood that they were stereotyping. UGH!!!