what the hamfat?!?! (or alternatively: EPIC FAIL!)

i worked with a gal years ago who said "what the hamfat?!" and somehow it stuck with me...of course, she had a way of saying that lent to it's hysterical-ness, but i try.  and the good ole orbit commercials have made "shut the front door" and "what the french toast" popular in the past couple years.  but both of those are really close to the real "wtf" that they are trying to imitate......

anyhoodles...that is so not what this post is about.

what it IS about is THIS:

not sure "why" this would warrent a post?

well.....i'll add this:

still unsure of the issue?

what is i were to tell you that abercrombie & fitch is marketing this PADDED PUSH-UP/UNDERWIRE BIKINI TOP to:

(wait for it...)

EIGHT (8) YEAR OLD GIRLS!

not 20-somethings.

not teens.

not tweens.

not preteens.

but little girls!

i am appalled!

appalled on a various levels:

1)  who works for a&f that sat around in their marketing think-tank and thought, "hmmmm, what demographic are we missing and need to tap in to?"  ahhhh, yes:  little girls.  because doesn't every single digit little girl need to fill out that bikini top?  and if they cannot physically do that, then let's help them.  we're fashion helpers.

2)  who are the parents that would be okay with purchasing this for their 8-yr-old?  seriously.  i don't even take my girls with me when i am bra shopping for myself.  of course, i rarely take them shopping in their own underpants departments - anyone looked there lately?  just need a pair of unders that cover the parts - we don't need bikini, hipster, boy-shorts for the single digit ages, do we? 

i get thAT sex sells.  i get that.  i do.  but at what cost?  i could go on, and on, and on.  as the mom of 2 young girls.  girls that my husband & i are trying to raise as respectful, modest young ladies.  a job that continues to get harder and harder.  especially with companies like a&f.  i just hope therE are more parents out there who are able and willing to stay tough and not give in to what "society" and the fashion industry tries to push at us. 

i did a beth moore bible study a couple years ago...and one of the things i remember her talking about is being cute.  (i will be paraphrasing from memory here....) "it's okay to want to be cute...but you CAN do it without showing everything off.  cute is okay.  mostly naked is not.  so ladies, let's keep it cute but covered".  of course, beth said far more eloquently, but that was the jist of it.

seriously, a&f: 

EPIC FAIL

do a little dance...

we've had a hectic, but fun week...

wren's school had an assembly monday

and then monday evening was "family night"

with gary dulabaum as entertainment.

and entertain he did!

wren even got her daddy dancing with her!

i danced with linnea.

and we all had a blast!

*****

on thursday, linnea had another field trip.

it was supposed to be a few weeks ago,

but it had to be rescheduled due to a snow storm.

finally, it was the day!

we were going to the symphony!

and linnea just knew exactly what to wear:

fancy green dress, with the sparkly heart,

black tights and her dress-up/church shoes.

she was so excited and loved all the compliments

she got on how beautiful she looked while at

"walking club".  we arrived early and got excellent seats.

prior to sitting down, the church we were at had a resident bird.

linnea enjoyed having a little chat with him!

linnea sitting with her friends waiting for the symphony "adventure" to begin.

linnea chatting it up with the bird.

then on thursday night it was

a school dance at wren's school.

since neither of the girls have ever been to a school dance,

they were not quite sure what to expect.

but...they knew exactly what to wear:

leotards and puffy tu-tus, of course!

the girls with some of their friends

wren, daddy & linnea

i enjoyed dancing a few songs with the girls...the "cha-cha-slide", some other funky line dance...but i drew the line when to dancing to justin beiber.  luckily the girls were in need of drinks and snacks!  the daddy enjoyed watching from the bleachers...oh, and holding the bag of goodies the girls "had" to bring.  what was needed?  well, microphones, linnea's hand-made drum (it also went to the symphony) and then eventually some souvenir streamers and balloons.



wren, momma & linnea
"the dancing queens"



by the end of the night, the girls were exhausted from dancing, twirling, running, funning, and laughing.

they slept quite well!

the family

we are a strange little band of characters

trudging through life

sharing diseases and toothpaste,

coveting one another's desserts,

hiding shampoo,

borrowing money,

locking each other out of our rooms,

inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant,

loving,

laughing,

defending,

and

trying to figure out the common thread

that bound us all together.

~erma bombeck