Bend for No One.

It wasn't my intention to be MIA from writing so long, in fact it's been too long.  A few weeks to be exact and my heart was aching to sit and say something, I actually had anxiety from being silent so long.  To those of you religiously refreshing and asking what the hell is wrong with me the answer is simple.  Tons, but that's not where I've been.  To be honest, I've been working.  Sigh.  I have no choice but to be a contributing member of the family instead of just "trying to figure my shit out." Sadly, bills can't be paid with sarcastic blog posts.  I'm no Perez Hilton.

You know what's been bugging me these last few weeks?  Young girls and their lack of common sense.  I had a moment last week where I saw my own child become one of those "go with the flow" kind of girls and it made me sick to my stomach.  If there is one thing I pride myself on is NOT going with the flow.  I am my own person to a fault and if you don't like it, there's the door.  In fact, I give props to Miley Cyrus for trying to break out of the mold and be her own person.  Yes, I do realize that she's not the first person to twerk but she is the first person to get that much attention for it.   That being said, I don't ever want to see my daughter hump a foam finger on national TV in nude underwear or ride a wrecking ball naked but I get it.  She's just being Miley.  Thankfully, my kid is shy and would rather go to the library than be put in a spotlight.  I, on the other hand, could have been Miley 15 years ago shaking my big ol' butt for all to see but I had the fear of Josie so I wouldn't dare.  At least not in public.

Back to young girls, I am beyond annoyed that they are now taking their queue from the former Hannah Montana and now twerking up a storm, sticking their tongues way out and acting like the "strategic hot mess" Miley created.  In fact, I saw a pic of a young girl I know, doing the same thing  this morning.  Girl, you are not on TV, you don't have a #1 album on the charts so put your booty and tongue away.  Be your own person before I tell your mom.  Find your own thing for goodness sake.  Lucky for me, my kid never saw this performance and has no idea Hannah is now a "Ho" but she still lacks the self esteem to be herself and speak up in certain situations and I'm not having it.  She's going to learn the following things if it kills me:

1. Don't go with the flow.  Like my dad always said, "Be a Leader, not a follower."  
2. Learn Kindness.  It matters.  Being kind is contagious.  If someone is in need, help them out.  If someone is frowning, offer them a smile.  Put yourself in their shoes and consider their feelings first.
3. Your appearance DOES matter.  Present yourself in a way that you will be proud to see in pictures or if you are accidentally tagged.  
4. Be a girl's girl.  Be friends with girls and support each other.  There is a security in knowing you have a girl friend that will have your back no matter what.  Don't be that girl that says, "I don't have really have girlfriends."  In my opinion there is something wrong with that and those girls need to look in the mirror and see why girls don't want to be their friend.  They can't be ALL be"jealous."
5. Think before you speak.  No one likes a hot head.  Take a deep breath and make sure what you are about to say is going to be received well.  If not, then keep your mouth shut.  Be Thumper and "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
6. Make something of yourself.  Trust this 35 year old when she says, figure your shit out in your 20's and go for it.  If I could just go back and do things differently I would.  I wouldn't be sitting here writing in my little office space hoping someone is reading this, you would be reading it a magazine somewhere or watching my sketches on SNL.  I'd still want my hubby and kid with me, but I'd be in a different place professionally.  Believe in yourself because you can be the best.

Wow, who knew when I was taking a shower this morning and having my inner dialogue that I would go here.  It's amazing to me that one little pic on social media would set me off.  I had the, "I'll be damned, if that's my child" moment and here we are and no, I'm not telling whose kid it is.  You'll just have to have a conversation with your daughters to figure it out.  ;)