I Saw Miley Cyrus and thought...

The other day, I found my 3 year old sister crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me, "Ran, I not pretty."

That broke my heart. I told her, "You're beautiful, Shaylynn! Don't ever say you're not pretty!"

It kind of got me thinking though. What is wrong with our society, that it makes children think that they're not pretty enough?

Well, I've been told, many times that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." But I'm not sure that that's entirely true. I mean, sure, you decide what you find attractive, but what shapes your point of view on that subject? What helps you decide the way you view the world? Magazines? Television? Movies? Celebrities? People you see everyday?

Who decided that "beautiful" is skinny girls with long legs and spray tans? Who decided that "pretty" is fake eyelashes and straight hair? Who made up our societies minds that to be "attractive", women have to wear clothing two sizes too small?

Uh, how can you even be sure that it's a real person underneath all the fakeness?

And when you really think about it, who exactly are we even trying to impress?

No Points for "Trying" Here!

I wouldn't say I'm the biggest procrastinator ever, but I'm up there. Friday morning Science class, I was given an assignment...here it is..."Make a Balloon Car".


This isn't mine, by the way.


I figured it would be easy. Easy as pie. And by pie, I mean apple, blueberry, cherry or chocolate pie, not 3.1415 kind of pi. By the way, Pi Day was yesterday! Albert Einstein was born on Pi Day! Back to the subject...I thought building a balloon car would be easy.

Long story short, I was wrong. After a temper tantrum and giving up, I did my pilates and went to bed.

I woke up this morning, only to tell my mother that I would not be attending classes this morning because I refused to fail. She told me that they had to give me marks for trying. Well, this is not true. (Here's where the moral of my story comes in...)

Between the ages of 3-12, they give you marks or points for "trying" because they want you to learn that "trying" helps you to succeed. Well, as true as this is, in the real world, not only do you need to try...but you need to succeed.

In Grade 10 Science, you do not get marks for "trying".

The Tale of how Dimitri Made Twenty-Five Cents...

I was just sitting there, bare-footed, in the middle of a Japanese restaurant, with my 6 year old brother, while he eats his happy meal, listening to country music.

How did I end up in this...unique situation?

Well, let me start with, it's not exactly what I planned.



A couple days ago, my younger brother, Dimitri, decided me and him, we should be best friends. I guess that's cool, except I was planning on going out with some friends that day. So, Dimitri decides to come along and of course, Mom says...yes.

WHAT?! Since when does Mom say yes about Dimitri going anywhere?!



Well, Dimitri comes along. And I have a decent time. Dimitri is bored out of his mind, but I'm having a fun time. It's a basketball game and my favorite team was winning and life was good. But Dimitri was bored. So I figured, he's probably not going to want to go anywhere with me again...I never get anything right.

Well, the very next day, I have plans to go out again with some friends. And again, Dimitri's very desire in life is to come...with...me. Again, Mom agrees. And again, Dimitri comes. It all seemed to be going very well. In fact, we were having a jolly good time.



Well, we're going out to eat, and the vote is unanimous - sushi. Well, almost unanimous...Dimitri wants McDonald's. So, we stop at McDonald's and pick up a Happy Meal.

I ask Dimitri - "Do you want Chicken Nuggets or a cheeseburger?"
Dimitri says - "Chicken Nuggets."
So, I buy a Chicken Nugget Happy Meal with a boy's toy and go back to the car and give it to him.



We drive to the sushi place and the very lovely Japanese lady directs us to a table, where we have to take off our shoes. Now, I'm not an expert on hygiene, and maybe it's just because I have a foot phobia, but I find this disgusting.

Well, we sit down, we order and Dimitri starts eating. He eats his whole meal. He turns and looks at me, and I swear to you, this is exactly what he says - "I wanted a cheeseburger."

...

There is no way that he actually told me that. After the embarrassment of having to stop and buy him a happy meal, and then sitting in a restaurant while he chows down on it, and then listening to his complaints. There is no way that I am okay with this.

Well, I tell him, he'll get twenty-five cents if he doesn't talk for the rest of the night.

Dimitri got a shiny quarter at the end of the evening.

He's 364 days old!

I've been crying a lot lately. Partially because Vienna is still left on the Bachelor, and Ali isn't. Partially because I am sick and tired of winter. So sick and tired, that I actually imagined my neighbor was mowing his lawn, ran outside and realized it was winter... But I'm mainly crying lately because, my little man is growing up.



This amazing little man has been mine since 3 days old. (I say "mine" but I didn't give birth to him. FYI.)



There has honestly never been a single day where this child has not made me smile. He is a ray of sunshine with curly black hair.



I hate to say it but I'm biased, he's probably one of my favorite people in the world. I just love him so much, it's absolutely ridiculous!

Tomorrow, Na'thaniel, my little man, turns one year old. Through all of his nastiness (because, trust me, he has his moments) and his craziness, and his hilarity, he is the sweetest little boy I've ever come in contact with.

I love you Na'thaniel!