Writer's Workshop-- Man I Rock!

I saw this on another blog I read DAILY, Postcards From Insanity, and thought I'd really like to do this. It is a fun blog carnival/meme/workshop created and hosted by Mama Kat (another blog I always read). Well damn. You had to do nothing and you just got two AWESOME blog recommendations from me :)

Okay now on to the writer's workshop. We had to choose a question. I toyed with a couple but I decided to go with:
Describe what you would change about yourself if you could.

Well that is simple. Nothing. I ROCK. I mean I am the Queen of awesome. Just forget that my blog is all about change. I need to change nothing.

OK moments over. Let us move on.

Society has created an epidemic. No matter what age they are or how they look, act and feel-- if you show me a female I will show you someone who wants to change something about herself. We are never good enough. Our looks. Our actions. Our feelings. Our parenting. The fact we don't parent. We are always looking for ways to improve. How often do we see the men in our lives trying to change themselves? We are lucky when the men in our lives change clothes and put on clean ones. Seriously. Yet as women we all feel that we are lacking something. I mean I created an entire blog of how I want to change. I know so many women both online and off who are totally awesome. Yet they want to change things about themselves. I am no exception. I just think it's very sad that no woman I know can actually say I rock. I am awesome.

According to society, I should be considered lazy and slacking because my hair is showing gray. Because my house isn't spotless I am a bad housekeeper. I need to lose weight because I'm careless. When I make frozen stouffer's lasagna I'm a bad cook. I should crawl out of bed every day and put on heels and makeup. Mozy my way to the kitchen to make up pancakes and eggs. Get Brat up and dressed for school in only the highest quality clothes. Get her out the door, tidy up my already clean house. From there I should run my errands, pay the bills and get my hair done. When I'm done with that I should come home, clean again just because that's what I should do and begin my homemade recipe for dinner. After serving up my family a great meal I can do dishes, play with Brat, sew an outfit, bake some cookies and clean one more time. Then I can finally take my heels off and settle down for a few hours sleep.

If I don't do this according to the standards society has set, I am somehow slacking in my duties and life. My parenting is bad because instead of some structured activity with Brat, I choose to kick her butt at Mario Kart. I'm a lousy housekeeper because I chose to catch the latest Hannah Montana episode instead of vacuuming or washing dishes. Since I work from home, if I allow her to go play alone, then well I'm just not a good mother. I am not an attractive woman because I have extra weight on me or because my hair is turning gray. I need to be presentable. I need to take care of myself.

But what society doesn't take into account is that instead of spending 24/7 worrying about all the things I'm not doing, I am living. Did I make cookies at Christmas? Sure. Betty Crocker ones with Brat and her BFF. And to be honest, they made them. I supervised. But it was the best day! Is my house clean? Probably not. But between working and living...time runs out. Do I need to lose weight? of course. But do you know how many men need to lose a few pounds? Quite a few. But how many are actually trying?

I'm not saying we shouldn't always strive to be our best. I'm not saying we don't make mistakes. We all do. I make a ton. When my daughter said someone pushed her at school, her dad told her to shove them on their ass. Is that good parenting? Probably not the best choice of advice. But we love her. And she knows it.

So when faced with the question of what I'd like to change about myself...well the part of me that feels less than would answer everything. I'd love to work on every aspect of my life. To improve my looks, my weight, my health, my finances, my parenting, just everything.

But the part of me that knows while I let myself go just a tad, I've spent the past 11 years getting to know and enjoy the company of one of the most awesome girls on the planet....well she'd say nothing. I don't need to change a thing. I rock. I am awesome!