At home….easy
I had chores and things that were expected of me.
My parents gave me a lot of things, but not enough to make me spoiled.
At school…not easy
I was teased a lot for my weight and lack of in style clothes.
My parents were so conservative that they were totally unaware of what teenagers were doing and when I wanted to do or have certain things it wasn’t allowed, which led to me being teased. My mom didn’t help me with my weight, if cookies made me happy, then she bought me cookies. She didn’t mean to have me gain weight - I don’t blame her for anything - I love my mom, we are just very different people.
Fast forward to new adulthood….hard
Due to the school days of teasing I became obsessed with losing my weight and I ate unhealthy (which I didn’t realize), worked out like a madwoman and lost a lot of weight - I looked awesome! I got my belly button pierced (which was a brand new thing back then - I thought my mom was going to faint when she saw it - LOL!) and wore my first bikini ever! But it put me the hospital and I had to learn how to manage my weight in a healthy way. I also went into terrible credit card debt to keep me in style so I would never be teased again.
Fast forward to older adulthood…..easier
So many lessons learned in the early adult years. I didn’t want my girls to ever feel like I did in school and the early adult years. DH and I have been very open with them on what we can afford and not afford to get them and buy them things accordingly. They’ve learned that there’s alternatives to what they want to still keep them in style. We’ve taught them that if they want this, that it means they may not get that and for them to choose what’s most important. I personally feel that my DH and I have done a great job with teaching that money doesn’t grow on trees, budgeting money and teaching them to shop around for good deals.
In regards to weight my older DD23 was literally a double zero size in high school and could fit into anything - she had a beautiful figure. I wished she could gain weight and she did too. She ate like a horse and never put on weight - she had a super Metabolism.
DD18 has been blessed with my ability to gain weight when looking at food, which is tough when you’re an athlete and 5’3”. Since I‘ve always struggled with weight I’ve been able to teach her what she can and can’t eat and go through this weight struggle journey together. We keep each other on track - if she’s at the store with me and I start to look at ice cream she tells me NO! If we’re out and she wants fast food I say NO! We tell each other NO a lot - LOL! We do have a treat once in awhile, but DD knows if she has ice cream in the day then she’s done with anything unhealthy the rest of the day. She’s repeatedly thanked me for teaching her how to eat right, not bringing garbage food into the house, not eating things in front of her (if she shouldn’t eat it then we both shouldn’t eat it and the other way around) and doing this weight journey together. She believes that when she goes to college in a few months that she’ll be ok when it comes to food and will have good will power to stay away from garbage food.
As much as my high school days and early adult days weren’t easy for me, I believe that God did that for me to help teach my children later. My girls have had certain struggles too and someday they’ll teach their children how to deal with those issues. God is good and Life is good