Sahara asked why I chose to come out at all, and although right at this minute my response is “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I DON’T KNOW, IT WAS THE STUPIDEST THING I’VE EVER DECIDED TO DOOOOOOOOO!!!!!,” my real response is that I was finding myself reluctant to post photos of myself or to meet any of you in person because I was worried the plus-size thing would come as an unpleasant surprise to you. When I realized this was causing me anxiety and preventing me from doing things I wanted to do, I decided OUT WITH IT.
For example, here’s the photo I wanted to use to illustrate the post about Rob teaching me to knit. I think it’s a super-cute picture but I couldn’t use it because then you’d knowwwwwwww:
Plus, then you’d see my unwise choice of hair dye. Sometimes trying to change nature doesn’t work out very well.
Now I have a question for you: how late should a child be allowed to sleep in on a day when there’s no particular reason to get up? How late did your parents let you sleep in? My eldest, who now qualifies as a “tween” I think, is still in bed at almost lunchtime. This is somehow more painful when the other children have been up since 5:30.
Three cheers for bravery. And frankly? I’m pretty sure we all love you just as you are. AND YOU ARE WONDERFUL.
And now, I have only one toddler who I wish would sleep in past 7. So off I scurry to feel sorry for myself with my cup of coffee. Toodles!
I like that picture a lot-I agree that it’s cute. I hope one day this little boy we are about to have teaches me to knit, or something like that. Also, I may be writing to your baby naming blog soon because he’s coming in a month and a half and OMGWEDON’THAVEANAMEYET. Not that I’m stressing about it or anything.
I agree completely about blogger meets and worry what others will think of me. I know…I need to work on that. Next week.
As far as bedtimes…my mom was always one of those “structure is important” and didn’t deviate from schedules even during holidays. My parenting style is mostly whatever the opposite of hers was (because I am nothing if not mature!)…and I let my kids sleep until they wake up. If we don’t have anything planned I don’t see why not. Who doesn’t love to sleep in? They are asleep right now, in fact. :)
Merry Christmas. Love the picture. :)
kim
Though I’m not anywhere near as popular as you, I have the same fears about posting pics of myself-regardless of which social site it is. I commend you for being so brave, and I think you look awesome!
You are a beautiful person. :)
I let my 11 year old sleep in til 9. Or, as late as I sleep in. Because, you know, there are some days like today that I just couldn’t force myself up.
I have the blessing (or curse?) of a toddler who will sleep as late as I let him. It’s really strange– you know how there are those kids who are up at 6 am? He’s never been like that. But then again, he’s up with me until 10pm at night.
I’m glad you outed yourself, you are more like me now which always makes it easier to relate to a person. I don’t know about sleeping in. On the one hand, the whole puberty thing is working their bodies pretty hard but you also don’t want them getting into the habit of sleeping all day and being up all night.
Swistle I think you rock. Period.
Oh when I was younger, my mom let me sleep however late I wanted to on the weekends. And I think most teens/tweens probably need more sleep than they get on a week night. I say let him sleep. But I love to sleep so I’m always in favor of MORE of it.
I was just wondering the same thing. My 4 year old slept until 8 am, which is pretty late in our house. I kept wondering if I should wake her up or let her sleep. Hm.
That IS a cute pic and you are lovely, as always. We were allowed to sleep as late as we wanted and I think we all turned out just fine. If there’s nothing to be done, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. Now that I am an adult and time is a bit more precious I am up and at ’em bright and early so it’s not like I still sleep until 1 in the afternoon or anything.
Since I can no longer sleep past 8 am EVER, LIKE AT ALL, I’d say let him sleep as long as he possibly can because one day, it’ll end, and he’ll never be able to sleep in again. (CAN YOU TELL I’M SLIGHTLY BITTER ABOUT MY LOSS OF SLEEP?)
Also, you’re beautiful. You are.
And brave.
And inspiring.
That is a cute picture, and a cute moment between you and Rob. I wish someone would teach me how to knit!
I don’t have any tweens in my house yet, but I say let him sleep. He’s probably catching up from not getting quite enough during the week.
I think you look awesome!!!
And I fully plan on having my kids in bed at 7:30/8 until they pay rent.
Well you’re asking the wrong person here because my nearly 7 year old spend his first year of life waking at 5:00 am every day and the next 5 years waking at 6:00. Just this summer he started semi-regularly sleeping to 6:30 or 7, just in time for me to have a baby in July and be up in the middle of the night. At this point, when either of my kids reaches a point where they sleep in, I am going to be so happy that they can sleep until noon if they want to. My body is going to need the rest…
I love the picture of you and Rob! It is so sweet.
I cannot honestly answer your question about getting-up times because I am right now STUCK in the time of my life when my children want to get up EVERY MORNING! AT 4:30am! They are SO EXCITED TO START THE DAY!
Let him sleep until tomorrow, that’s what I’d say.
I let them sleep until I know it will effect bed time that night. If my 5 year old sleeps past 7:30, bedtime is not fun here as she is not tired enough.
Love the picture. As someone else said upthread – now that I know you look like me, I can relate to you better.
As for the sleep thing – I have a child that wakes up early, and one that sleeps late. And just because we’re WEIRD – it’s my teen that wakes up early, and my 7-year-old that will sleep until 9 or 10. I say let them sleep – they wouldn’t do it if they didn’t need it.
The picture is priceless, Swistle, and one you can cherish for years to come. As for the sleeping thing, unless there are some other indications of difficulty (not wanting then to sleep at night; not feeling social, being sad, etc.) he probably just a growing boy who needs and wants lots of sleep. Aunt Rah says let the boy sleep. :-)
You are beautiful, your new red sofa rocks, your hair looks great (how do you always get the twist right????), love the knitting (my daughter and I always anxiously await photos of “things” you knit), and you should definitely do whatever it is you want to do whenever you want to do anything. Well, maybe not whatever, and possibly not whenever, but you get the point. Seriously – you make so many people LAUGH and BE HAPPY or, on the flip side, THINK and LEARN – those are the important things about you. You are sensational.
About the sleeping tween, let him sleep, because when in his life will he ever get to sleep in? He has his whole life to wake up at the crack a$$ of dawn. My daughter is now 17, and many days, I need to wake her up for work, school, sports, etc., so the days she CAN sleep, I let her. Do not worry! He has all of adulthood to end war, cure cancer, etc. And he will be well rested to do those things!
Thanks for being you, Swistle!
~Jenny in MD
P.S. That 17-year-old daughter I mentioned? She made some of your x-mas cookies (from your review blog), and she brought them to her friend’s cookie exchange, and they were a HUGE HIT at home and at the party. PLUS she cleaned the kitchen after until it gleamed. GLEAMED, I tell you. So thank you for the recipe, and she probably never could have done it had she not been well rested :).
I definitely lean toward letting kids sleep as late as they want to, once they are old enough that doing so won’t totally screw up your life (e.g. letting a two-year-old sleep in and then having to stay up with him until midnight because the little charmer isn’t tired until then).
That is a VERY cute picture. I like how he is watching CLOSELY to be sure you don’t screw up.
On summer vacations as a kid, we were required to be up by 9 and showered/ready for the day by 10. That being said, I think that Policy is DUMB for a Christmas Vacation-type situation and I would let my kid sleep all day as long as he knew he still had to go to bed at the appropriate time.
Also, there is research on tweens/teens needing more sleep than other age groups. With related talk of starting school later based on the findings that they are more alert later in the day.
I love the picture!
As for sleeping, I let my daughter, who is 11 1/2, sleep to 10 am or so. If I let her sleep any later, she won’t want to go to bed at a reasonable hour (9:30 or 10)
I am one of those moms who keep to our schedule(mostly) even during holidays because even if I let my little one stay up really late, he won’t sleep in in the the morning so the next day is HORRIBLE!
I am also a teacher so as soon as break is over I have to start getting up at 5:00 am again, so I, too, try not to get too far off of my schdule.
Swistle, we love YOU. And YOU are YOU, however you look (which is, beautiful and normal and great!). Please don’t fret! You have won us over, and you’re our Internet BFF, so no worries!
Okay, I thought I read somewhere that our bodies will try to correct themselves and catch up on lost sleep during times when we don’t get the right amount (like, say you only slept for five hours one night, the next night your body might try to sleep for 11 hours because you didn’t get the proper 8 the night before)… something like that. So I think if Rob is needing a day of sleeping in, it’s probably for a reason, and I’d let him have it now and then. If you had somewhere to go, he’d obviously have to be woken up, but if you’re just having a day at home, then let him have his sleep-in time. His body might be fighting off a cold and need extra healing time, or he may have had some late nights over the holiday and now he’s catching up. :-)
I remember from my adolescent development course in University (although you’re not 100% there yet with him, but you will be soon – ahh!), it’s actually really important that teenagers get those sleep-in days for their development and that parents who wake them up all the time because they can’t stand them sleeping in (my mom was sort of like this, haha) are doing them a disservice.
I agree that you are fabulous in any size. Swistleriffic, as it were. Love that pic!
I have no idea on the sleeping in thing. I’d pay if my kid would sleep in and for now I’m dreaming of the days she wants to sleep until noon. At which point I’ll probably be wide awake by 5 am and unable to sleep in myself. Life is cruel.
It’s a great picture and I’m glad you posted it.
FWIW I’m plus size and I’d prefer your pretty pear shape to the pure bellyfat distribution I have. Pregnancy was the prettiest time of my whole life because I was SUPPOSED to be big in the middle and for once clothes were actually cut right for me to look feminine. Never before, and never again. You’ve got a waistline you can define and I’d give anything for that. Anything.
I think it’s good you did this. I hope you will feel free to post any picture from now on.
Careful readers (oh come on, I know I can’t be your only stalker) already had a pretty good idea what size you are, not that we give a hot damn about it. So you could have been having coffee with me for ages now, other than the obvious “eight states apart” issue. Also I think you look lovely and also also I don’t care, but good for you for doing something hard and doing it graciously.
You are still Swistle no matter what size you are. We love you no matter what.
And my oldest (just turned 14) sleeps till noon or sometimes 1ish.
I remember being a teen and needing that sleep. So I let her sleep. She will have plenty of time to be awake when she is out of high school and has to *gasp* work!
I remember sleeping until 1pm or so when I was 13 or 14. As many posters have mentioned, teens need crazy amounts of sleep. Add to this that their biological clock shifts so that what they really want/need to do is be up until midnight and sleep until noon, throw in unreasonable school hours, and you’ve got a recipt for sleeping away your vacation.
Since your tween is still a tween, the one thing I’d say is that it might be worth trying to implement an earlier bedtime if you don’t already. Our 12-year-old still has an 8:30 bedtime, and if we see him yawning we’ll send him to bed with books earlier than that. As your tween’s body clock shifts, though,earlier bedtimes will become harder for him to utilize.
Bottom line? Let him sleep, he needs it.
Oh! However. One thing I figured out as a late teen was that I was always extra sleepy because of my sinuses. I remember trying a decongestant one night, and marveling at the lack of grogginess (which I’d felt for the past decade or so). Also, is your kiddo hydrated enough? In winter the heater always dried my sinuses painfully.
I would let the kid sleep until he woke up as long as he went to bed at around the same time that night. My parents got us up by lunchtime-ish and I think that’s reasonable.
My fear (with my younger kids) is that I’ll let them sleep in and then they’ll stay up later and then sleep in and eventually we’ll be regularly going to bed at midnight and sleeping until noon. If left to my own devices, my sleep schedule would be 2 or 3 am until noon – I’m naturally a night person – and I have to work to stay on a day schedule, so I’m a bit rigid about sleep-wake times.
But sleeping in as a tween/teen is so awesome.
That is a great photo! Is Rob for rent? I need someone to sit and watch *me* that closely. I’m getting better at knitting, but I only know the garter stitch, and I’ve only done scarves…
I’d probably get him up by lunchtime. I’m not sure why; it’s just my inclination. Perhaps b/c sleeping in feels awesome but sleeping all day feels awful, for me anyway.
I love this picture.
And re sleeping in: my mouth says, cheerfully, Oh, just let him sleep!
While I KNOW that I myself get frantic/pissy when someone in my house sleeps in. Right now this usually is my spouse, but the day is not far off when it will be my oldest. Already it is not unusual for him to sleep in until 9 or 10 on a weekend, and he’s eight. In five years he will be one of those (loveable!) lugs who sleeps in until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Which used to drive me CRAZY when his dad did it.
Whatever you do, I will be watching closely for tips. I have already put in place your policy of letting my has-trouble-falling-asleep child read at bedtime without being too particular about when the light goes off–and Swistle, it has worked wonders for my piece of mind. And, uh, he’s reading a lot more.
Oh Swistle! I love that picture. And just like others have said, we love you just the way you are. Btw, this must be the new, fab red couch? Love it!
It’s a great photo and your size would have in no way even come into my mind while viewing the picture. I like that you are “coming out” with it and it makes me like you more. If that’s wrong, then I am wrong. And I’d say you’re plus size by choice (because of where you shop for clothes, not for what size you are if that makes any sense at all), you could probably fit yourself into misses. But I mentioned that the other day…clothing is (are?) made so teeny tiny and tight. I think you are lovely. :-)
That is a sweet photo, and I’m glad you posted it and that you “came out.” Your body allowed you to give birth to five healthy children… that’s a serious accomplishment, and your body — actually, all of our bodies — should be celebrated with pride.
And I would let him sleep as long as he wants. He has plenty of time to be a grownup with responsibilities later. :)
Swistle, can Rob come over and give my son (who is almost five, but insane even for that age) lessons in patience? I think you both are awesome.
Part of the reason I enjoy reading your work so much is because you openly fret about the things that we all fret about. I am of the type that does most of my hand wringing inwardly, so it’s nice to see that others are driving themselves nuts with the same (mostly unimportant) thoughts.
I’ve read enough of your past work (along with Beth Fish, it seems) so that I already knew your general physical appearance. I don’t think anyone who has been reading you for any significant amount of time AT ALL thought you were the bubbly aerobics instructor type, either in body or spirit. And it has had no bearing at all on how much I respect your opinions on exercising or baking or whatever.
I am so sorry that comments got so out of hand on the original post.
And (one last thing then I will SHUT UP ALREADY), has Rob always been a good/long sleeper? (Or is there hope for my kid yet?)
Honestly? I fear ever posting pictures or meeting people because I look mousier and more dowdy than I 1) feel and 2) come across in writing. I fear that moment when the reaction to seeing me is, “Oh, god, she looks like THAT?!” So I totally, totally, totally get it. And now I’m wondering, if that’s my fear, should I be brave like you and strike a blow for mousy, dowdy women everywhere? Eh, perhaps I’ll defer that question until I’m not eight months pregnant.
As for sleep, oh, hell. Let him sleep. Youth is so fleeting.
Your upper body-to-lower body proportions are VERY similar to mine.
I have no idea about the sleeping. Preteen and teenage bodies are notoriously exhausted, right? And also I myself love sleep, so I hate depriving anyone else of it (except my husband, when I myself HAVE been awake with the kids for hours already…!) On the other hand, yeah, structure, setting good habits, blah blah blah.
That was a helpful comment right there.
I’m glad you wrote that post, and I’m even glad for the crazy comment section, because as a fat person who has struggled with weight and bigotry and self-loathing my whole life, it made me–MAKES me–feel much less alone. So thanks for that. :)
Swistle you rock. The photo is cute.
We had to get up by 10:30 as kids. I would love for my kids to sleep late. They are only 2 and 4 so I have some time to wait.
your picture is fine! You are fine!
sleeping: weigh how late you let them sleep in with how much their not going to sleep that evening will bother you. Little ones who will bounce around until 11 pm must wake up! Try to maintain some sort of schedule on holidays, maybe an hour or hour and a half off of ‘normal’ for as many years as you can.
Teens are like toddlers, they need massive amounts of sleep, and they don’t want to get it when convenient to you. After years of teaching that there must be some sort of schedule to one’s day, I tried not to stress over their sleep habits much on holidays and weekends once they were old enough that I couldn’t physically haul them out of bed. On the other hand, I also didn’t hesitate to play loud music, mow the lawn outside their windows, vacuem…
As teens,every moment my daughters were sleeping was a moment they weren’t argueing and sassing. So long as they maintained some sort of schedule that still got their chores done and remembered to bathe I left it up to them. The rule was, their evening plans did not progress until my plans for their day were complete, no matter how late they slept, there were chores to do. Yes, there were times I did make my daughter, in all her Saturday evening finery, finish folding the laundry and putting away the dishes while her friends cooled their heels. Usually, I’d catch her in the getting ready phase and insist chores be done, but sometimes I’d be inattentive and she thought she was getting away with it.
I don’t know about the sleeping thing. I mean, you aren’t dealing with teenagers, bogged down by the heaviness of their lives, correct? Kids, with a house full of things they would likely enjoy playing with. I bet that he is just holiday’d out. He wouldn’t be sleeping if he wasn’t tired, maybe. Sometimes people sleep because they’re tired? I don’t know. Parenting seems so hard. I’m not even being sarcastic. I just don’t even know.
I remember, though, being a teenager and being asleep on a weekend or in the summer and my dad would bellow for me to come downstairs, around 9 or 10am, and I’d stomp down there and say “What?” and he’d just tell me it was time to be awake. No reason, no obligations, I worked nights. He just felt it was time for me to be up. That, I just didn’t understand. Some arbitrary waking up time for a teenager who worked at night and, you know, was a miserable sack of teenager miserablyness to be around, why would you even WANT me to be awake and around you, you know? I don’t understand the arbitrary awake times for near-adults responsible for their own bedtimes.
But when you’ve got to balance their bedtime with how much sleep they’re actually getting? Man, I’m totally not even kidding, the closer I am getting to having a kid myself, the more the reality of all the day to day, minute by minute things you have to think about is becoming real to me. And I know it sounds like I’m being sarcastic because, come on, but I’m totally not. I have no idea when your kid should get up. I need to put off babies for a while yet I think.
I love this picture – so sweet.
And, I say let him sleep as long as he wants. Don’t teenagers need like 13 hours of sleep a day or something??
We could meet someday?!?!?!
I just love this photo of you and Rob. Love it. It makes me weepy. You need to frame it.
Sleeping in is a foreign concept to me, and always has been. My mom likes to tell the story of how, in order to get more down time themselves, my parents would set the clock in the living room forward in the evenings because my twin sister and I knew that when the hands were straight up & down (6:00) it was bed time. And we slept until 6:00 am. As we got older, and I’m talking probably about sixth grade or so, we were allowed to sleep in until 9:00 during school breaks then it was time to get going on chores, or off to babysitting or part-time jobs as we got older. My younger brother, on the other hand, got all the sleeping genes in the family. To the extent that he would fall back asleep while sitting on the edge of his bed getting dressed for school. By the time we were in high school my mom would threaten him with ice cubes on his bare feet to wake him up in the mornings. I’m pretty sure she only actually had to do it a couple of times a week. For 4 years. School breaks were a “vacation” for our mom from dragging his sleepy behind out of bed, and he routinely slept until mid-afternoon. I don’t really recall the rule of getting up and getting chores done being enforced for him, probably because our mom was in school & working full time at that point.
So, I don’t know. Obviously everybody has different sleep requirements, but for myself I think the rule would be that the kids need to be up by the time school would normally be starting, if only to minimize the difficulty in getting back on track schedule-wise once school starts again.
That IS a great picture! I’m not that imaginative, so I don’t think I ever pictured you from the neck down!
My 9-year-old slept until 11:00 the day after Christmas. I let her because she had had a few late nights and I knew she needed the sleep. I would let him sleep, unless sleeping in too late means he’ll be up too late tonight.
If any of my mofos would ever sleep past 6:30 in the morning, I would never, EVER wake them up. My parents never woke us up but they were never quiet for us, either.
I love that picture and it is an adorable illustration of your son teaching you how to knit! My son is little, and has autism, and I can’t tell you how sweet I think it is to see young boys doing cute things like that. I fear I may never have that experience so I appreciate living vicariously through you.
You’re right – that’s a cute picture!
I just love that he was teaching you to knit. Can he come teach me to knit too?
I’m just catching up on a week and a half’s worth of posts and sending love!
That’s a great photo of you and Rob. Regarding your question, I have no idea. I WISH my daughter would sleep in. I am up for work Monday – Friday at 5:30am, she’s up at 7, I would LOVE to sleep in on the weekends, but she usually wakes up EARLIER on Saturday and Sunday. What the….!? She doesn’t necessairly need me up with her, but she likes me to know she’s awake and then I usually can’t fall back asleep. Grrr.
This is late and I meant to comment on the original post, but you’re “coming out” has made me adore you even more, when I didn’t even know it was possible. You are my hero.
I have no idea on the sleep thing, except to say that GOOD GOD I WISH I COULD SLEEP IN UNTIL NOON.
We all fret about how we look. Less fretting would mean more time for important and/or fun things. NOW. If you would only come OUT regarding the real names of your children, we would all rejoice (what did the baby-namer name her babies?!) :)
I missed years and years of reunions with my best high school friends because I didn’t want them surprised to see how big I was. How I regret that now.
I think it is a very cute picture, and I think it is very hard to be plus sized and bake or cook or LIVE sometimes and it helps the rest of us know others that feel the same way.
And for sleeping in? I never cared, but that is biting my college kids in the ass right now.
Sahara- Rob is a bad sleeper at night (doesn’t want to sleep, doesn’t feel sleepy, has trouble getting to sleep) but then over the years has stopped ALSO being a bad sleeper in the morning (waking up at 5:00, not taking naps). Well, I mean, he doesn’t take naps now, but he sleeps until 7:00 on school days (which is when he has to get up) and he sleeps until 8 or 9 or 10 or 11 on non-school days.
Alias Mother- One thing that encouraged me was realizing I felt CLOSER to people when I knew what they looked like. There’s almost always that little shock when I first find out, whether they’re prettier or mousier, fatter or thinner than I’d thought—and then after that, I feel like I know them better and like them more.
I feel so sick inside about how your last- beautiful! honest!- post got hijacked.
Seeing that picture of you with Rob is like taking some healing medicine for me.
If writing anything is about wanting to be seen, then blogging must be about wanting to be SEEN.
We see you.
We love you Swistle.
I’ll just ditto LucidKim because she is my sister and we think alike, after all. :) I think if my kids ever slept past 6 am I’d have to hold a revival in my living room.
Oh! And on the sleep?! I’m with the others with little ones who say OH PLEASE MAY THEY EVER SLEEP THAT LATE.
I saw you got a lot of comments on that post but I was too swamped with Christmas to read them. I hope no-one said anything mean to you because I like you. Your personality really shines through your writing.
BTW, I’m fat, too.
I adore how the smart and witty people are the popular bloggers and no one cares one whit as to how they look. It’s (thankfully) not like high school where pretty = popular and average-looking/smart = nerd/bullying material. Do you have any idea how excited another blogging friend and I get when you comment on our blogs? “OMG! Swistle just commented on my blog! Swistle reads me!” (Seriously…we actually say those things. Does that make us dorky?)
P.S. LOVE the picture.
I think it’s a great picture, and I like your choice of hair dye!
You’re beautiful. And it’s a great picture.
As for sleeping in, I was going to express much jealousy about the lunchtime wakeup time and be all, “Don’t wake a sleeping child!” Let him sleep all day if you want to.” And then you said that about the other kids and I remembered that you have all kinds of children that probably don’t sleep so late. So I’ve revised my answer to: Wake him up at 5:30 with the other kids. If one person is going to be miserable, all people should be miserable.
And I’ll see you at 8, when I have to get up.
As a knitter, I’m happy to see another knitting conversion taking place. The plan to take over the world continues apace.
As for the sleeping in, my kids are young yet and are up by 9 if allowed to sleep in. Beyond say 10:30, I start to worry.
P.S. I’m plus sized and I think that there is totally a stigma associated w/ weight just as you said. It’s suddenly your issues that are present and accounted for instead of you just having interests (as the comments played out, only against Sundry which was strange.) Anyway, I wanted to say I am with you in those feelings. Weight is the one place where people are unequivocably opinionated no matter what side of the spectrum they fall. & some of them are dicks. Sorry it happened here.
My three-year-old doesn’t get up at 10 because his daycare is closed and his dad doesn’t get up until that time. I get up at 5:30 because I know the house will be quiet even though that 10 AM wake-up hour? MUST BE NICE!
I slept until noon yesterday. It was amazing. Today I awoke at 6:33 and realized that I didn’t have a blessed thing to do today that would justify getting up at that hour so I went back to sleep by 9 and was awake by 1 and hell, I’m sitting in my bed right now. I say you let him sleep in. He’s on vacation.
Sincerely,
She Who Will Make a Fantastic Parent Someday
You actually look nearly exactly as I imagined you except that before I saw your head shot you had brown hair in my mind. I always picture warm hearted motherly seeming folks as being just a touch plump so you look just perfect. I am slightly paranoid publishing this because sheesh, the comments on the last post, who knows how folks will take anything but I’m glad you posted a photo of yourself and I still want knitting lessons from Rob! Oh, and let the kid sleep I say. I love sleeping in and it’ll be a treat for him.
You make me want to be more honest about…oh, all manner of things, in my blog. You’re brave, and I admire you! And that is the sweetest picture ever.
OMG, you are amazing and hilarious and brilliant and we are all fascinated by the fact that you have a son who is teaching you how to knit. we don’t care what size you are. really!
You’re beautiful and you should be ALLLLLL out and hm, I’d put the kid to bed around the same time as normal. Why? Well, my kid is autistic (the oldest) and we do NOT mess with routines in my house, no we do not. EVER.
I don’t think I ever ever ever would have looked at your picture and thought “plus sized”. Seriously.
And I can’t get over the knitting! I hope I raise the kind of kids who will be willing to teach me something. That is so ultra cute and sweet.
When I was a tween/teen, I was expected to be awake by 10. Of course, if the house was empty, I was allowed to sleep in as late as I wanted :)
I’m not sure what I’ll expect of my children. I’ve always said that as long as they are doing well in school, aren’t doing drugs, and have a reasonable attitude, then I probably won’t care about much else when they’re teenagers. We’ll see ….
I think I told you this on Twitter already, but THANK YOU for writing that post.
Glad you’ve outed yourself. . . makes your more real!
In our house, sleep is a gift from God, not to be wasted for any reason.
you are awesome. and beautiful. and… we could meet??? That is such a sweet picture. I vote wake the little brats up after like.. 10:30 or so. I just get angsty and feel not-right when someone’s still sleeping and the rest of us are all awake. I might change my feeling when they are older though.
you are lovely, and this is a lovely picture. so glad we get to see you, since it allows us to see adorable moments like this.
and wake-up time? i think we had to get up at 11:30 or so. i await those days, since my three-year-old son gets us up at 6:30 without fail. le sigh.
Jana–I am totally with you (OMG!! Swistle responded to MY question!!). It feels like being a celebrity, even if it’s really more akin to being on the local news. I think the fact that many of us dork out that way just makes it even better. Thanks for letting me know there are others out there who react the same way!
I think you’re lovely. LOVELY.
And that knitting picture is priceless. I’m with everyone else: let sleeping boys lie.
DUDE AND DID YOU SEE THAT? I WAS ABLE TO POST A COMMENT IN AN EMBEDDED FORM! HUZZAH!!!
That, my friend, is a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE.
you’re adorable.
and i’m pretty sure tweens are like newborns in the “never wake a sleeping __” respect.
Ok honestly I wouldn’t think twice if I saw that pic of you in the original post and I don’t think “plus size” would pop in my head if you had posted it!!! You’re being way too hard on yourself!
I think I speak for everybody when I say a Swistle is a Swistle is a Swistle! We’re all here for your personality, wit, writing, and humor. You amuse us, make us laugh, and sometimes shock us (hehe). I’ve met all shapes sizes colors ages and sexes of friends in real life and on the Internet and have never thought twice about their exterior!
My parents I don’t think let us sleep in past like 10am maybe at the most, otherwise you’re right – it throws the balance off too much!
That is a GREAT picture. Is that the new couch? I love the color.
Waking up times are hard. I have no kids and my own point of experience is so NOT what you’re dealing with that it is no help to you at all. (My parents occasionally let me “sleep in” until all of 8 AM, yelling at me when I invariably couldn’t wake up — because I have a sleeping disorder. They decided said disorder didn’t exist because they were the kind of people who thought “lazy” people made up illnesses.)
My only somewhat practical concern would be to keep enough of a schedule so they could get to sleep on time the day before school. Waking up too late could throw them off.
It does suck that society makes you feel you have to be perfect to post a photo. I feel the same way and I do believe that people judge others so quickly based on looks.
I think that’s what I like so much about blogging — most of the time there is no cover to read, you know what I mean? You actually get to know the person inside instead of being distracted by what’s outside.
Four cheers for you. Yes, you’ve earned an extra cheer, gingah.
I just like having a face to go with the voice.
Good to see you!
I love knowing what people look like, it somehow makes me feel like I can imagine you actually talking (instead of typing). And look at you, all knitting with your son and being cute. By the way, opinions on fashion, etc. are not limited to those who fit the runway versions of clothes.
As for sleeping in, I am looking forward to when my kids will do that. That being said, I don’t imagine I will ever make an effort to make sure they can continue to sleep in peace as long as they want. When their sleeping interferes with the daily routine then out of bed they will come (I think).
I totally know how it feels to hesitate to post a photo of yourself. For me, it’s just weird that I look like *this*. But my *this* and someone else’s *this* can be vastly different.
Like all your devoted readers, nothing could change my affection and respect for you. I think you’re brave and what you’ve shared has really made me think. And hooray for knitting!
LOVE the photo!! I agree, frame it!
Also, I have teenagers. I let them sleep as long as necessary. They are chronically sleep deprived during the week. Plus, less attitude to deal with. In fact, my kids are asleep now. I’m home from work at 1pm and they are just thinking about breakfast. Works out well.
Of course, they are up very late but as long as I can sleep, it’s all golden.
Of course, it wasn’t always this way. They used to get up at 5 a.m. so I embrace this change wholeheartedly. However, if getting up later affects Rob’s bedtime, I might make an adjustment. Maybe. I don’t know…
I’m not much help but wanted to let you know what goes on at my house with the kids/sleep.
Hm, just as I suspected: smart, pretty, loving, caring, attentive mom, and thoughtful.
You’re right. I had you pegged.
Whoops, the abovementioned comment was me, Willikat.
(also, I didn’t need a photo to know those things, but thanks for confirming the awesome that you are.)
You know, one thing about this blogosphere deal is that we actually do get to know each other on an intellectual, emotional level before we ever know each other in a tangible, physical sense.
You’re lovely. And I look forward to many more illustrations.
yep, still love ya.
Um, don’t know. when I was a teen my mom used to bug me to get up and I was like, Why does it matter? I’ve no where to be.
I don’t know the right answer though.
You are adorable.
I, too, am plus-sized and am rarely in front of the camera. I take all the photos because I love to, but also so I don’t have to document how fat I’ve become in the last 7 years. When my husband and I began dating, I was a size 8. I’m now an 18. It’s of my own doing, but it has certainly prevented me from being more social.
For Christmas, I let my husband throw an after-Christmas party for his friends. He was so excited. It was also secretly for me to make myself be seen and make myself realize that my size doesn’t make people like me less. I have many overweight friends and family members that I adore and did even when *I* was thin. Their weight never affected my feelings for them, so I am trying to remind myself that being overweight doesn’t make you less pretty, less sweet, less awesome, and less talented. It just makes you insecure. And by “you” I mean me. :) I think you’re awesome regardless of your size (and by you in this sentence I mean YOU). I love reading your blog and love your sense of humor. :) *HUGS*
Dude that’s an adorable picture…and uh, I had no idea you were “plus sized” and you don’t look all that plus sized here either, coming from someone who has a little extra of their own, if you catch my drift. That said, what I first noticed on this photo was the blob of yarn on your jeans, which I mistakenly thought was an embroidery…in which case I was thinking, sheesh, what a weird set of jeans. So yeah. That’s where my mind goes.
You are wonderful. No matter what size you are.
You are awesome. So awesome.
And also, that photo is fantastic. I love that he taught you how to knit.
I think you’re gorgeous. Unfortunate Hair Color Choice and all.
I was going to comment on the original “Coming Out” post but it was getting scary over there.
I just wanted to say I’m proud of you for doing something as scary (as proved by TEH CRAZY in the comments section) as coming out as plus sized. It’s a very personal and touchy subject and you handled it with so much poise and grace. I love you for that.
And I just have to say you are my favorite. Really. I read your blog first and I think you are sublime just because YOU are YOU!
Hi Swistle! I love you. You’re awesome. Let’s make out. Love your “Coming Out” post, but, like Barb, was terrified to enter the comments there.
No part of meeting you would ever be an unpleasant surprise. Bitch plzzzzz.
Love you, love the picture. As for the waking up, I would let him sleep. My mom always woke us up early by playing the Beatles really loud. Then she made us clean. 20 years later if I hear the Beatles I am compelled to dust.
I actually love that we really get to see you! Truly. You are a beautiful person and have nothing to be ashamed of!
(No help on the sleeping in thing. None at all. I cannot even fathom that day.)