Once a month I host a mom’s get together before school pick up. It falls just before lunch so I put out a spread. Not the kind that would make my Italian Nana proud, but it does the job. Fresh berries, granola, a crisp veggie tray, cheese and fancy crackers and a few sweets. The food mostly goes untouched and our family happily enjoys the extras. My kids can’t understand why the good food goes to waste.

This Spring, I asked one of my friends if she wanted anything to eat and she said, “oh no, I’m intermittent fasting”. 

I simultaneously understood her position and felt sad because diet culture, one and my friend, zero. 

I promptly replied, “No judgement, but I don’t agree with that concept”. I try to keep any commentary light which will be hard this fall when I want to open my book and ask her to read chapter one which is all about diet culture and why diets don’t work for the vast majority of people. 

“But...

Surrounded by light up plastic snowflakes with the smell of popcorn lingering in the air, my kids and I sat in anticipation of the Disney on Ice (Frozen & Encanto) debut. Kids clad in Elsa, Anna and Mirabel costumes waved excitedly as Olaf took the ice. The Frozen story was underway when Elsa and Anna popped up on a side platform as they got ready for Elsa's coronation.  

“Anna, you look beautiful” Elsa proclaimed. 

A giddy Anna said, “You look beautifuller….I mean you don’t look FULLER…..you just look very beautiful”. 

An awkward moment of silence just long enough for kids to understand that looking FULLER is not a good thing cut right through the popcorn haze. 

Damn you, Disney on Ice. I’m disappointed to say the least, especially amidst the absolutely awful new AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) guidelines that recommend medication, weight loss through dieting and...