My Safe Haven

After a long day at school and hours spent on homework, my whole family sits down for dinner at my dinner table. My mom's cooking aromas fill the air and the sound of pots and pans being picked up and placed on the large table in my dining room. Dinner at my house is not elegant in any way, with a usual messed up tablecloth probably from my brother's messy eating habits. The minute we sit down, laughter fills the entire room with everyone being themselves completely. We all tell each other about our days at either work or school, reflecting on our daily experiences. Being able to freely express myself after a long day at school being very quiet is really soothing. My family accepts me for who I truly am so when I sit down in my chair I feel like I don't have to hide my true identity. Everywhere else I go in my life like school and my job, I have to put on a mini show. I act to what my teachers and customers would want to see not how I want to be. Who doesn't conserve themselves in times of seriousness? It is never comfortable, I know that. Not being able to be yourself feels like there is a giant crowd of people watching your every move, judging you every second. When I walk through the doors of my house, I never have to worry about any of those obnoxious feelings.
        Another thing I love is that anyone who sits at my dinner table feels welcome and is treated like family. On the weekends, it is not rare to have many extra people sitting around my table. No matter who it is and what time of day, if my family and or friends are sitting down, roaring of laughter surrounds the room. Its an open place where everyone is free to say whatever they are thinking. I know for me, dinner time is when I tell my family what happened at school that day from the monstrous amounts of work I completed or the silly gossip that is spreading around school. I learn things about my family from this experience as well. I feel ten times closer to my family after we eat dinner. I consider myself to be pretty lucky that I still get to sit down with my family every night. Many families don't get to do this and I believe it makes you closer to your family. I couldn't imagine my life without considering I have done this since I was a baby.
       Maybe I like dinner time so much since I am a foodie. I think food is just a good conversation starter and something that makes everyone happy. I know it makes me feel good. When the taste of a home cooked meal floods my mouth, first of all, it's delicious and secondly, it's calming. The food and my family combined is a quick stress reliever. I can temporarily forget about everything that is attacking my brain making me feel slightly insane and just relax and more importantly, vent my feelings to them. I am so happy I get to have this tradition every night with my family and I hope one day when I have a family I can too make dinner a great atmosphere for them.

When I first saw this picture, I was appalled at how we create these totally unnatural body sizes in children's favorite toys such as the Barbie. I can recall playing with Barbies all of the time as a kid, dressing them up and playing with their hair. Barbies are role models to young kids on how to look. When we see a Barbie as a kid, we don't think of it then when we are playing, but our brains are slowly being brainwashed on how we should look. I have heard tremendous amounts of increased body image issues and I think it is safe to say that children who played with Barbies have them to blame. Every aspect of Barbies body is impossible and fake. No ones breasts could be that big when your torso can be squeezed together with your own hands. We all know it's fake and cannot be achieved but yet we all still strive to be a size 0 and 5'9''. When Barbie's proportions are put on this healthy girl, it disgusts me. Everyone's body types are different and for most of us being stick thin does not come naturally. All real people have curves and that should be okay. Social media and kid's toys are telling us to have "curves" by having our hip bones jut out and our ribs be totally visible through our skin. Barbie wears tons of makeup and has eyes that take up half of her face. We will never be able to have that. Even in advertisements, we widen women's eyes, lengthen their legs and thin out their waists. Nothing is natural anymore and its really sad. Barbie and other social media representations of girls bodies is increasing eating disorders, self esteem problems and even suicide. How can we let this happen and keep selling these brainwashing dolls? Barbie angers me and I hope by the time I have kids that Barbies will depict a natural and healthy woman for young girls to strive for.
http://www.divinecaroline.com/life-etc/momhood/negative-effects-barbie-young-girls-long-term-results