An Epiphany for Rozi

There are other occasions where how we see the world in general, and ourselves in particular, is not quite right. How many times have the two of us been out for a walk with our mama, and each of us rolls our eyes (well, we do what we can with the musculature we have been given; it's more like a combination of a wink and an blink) when someone walks toward us in shorts that are - well - three to four sizes too small. And, yet, all we can think about (aside from thinking really hard about keeping ourselves from laughing) is that this person must have thought that the shorts were attractive on them. Now, maybe it's a case of remembering the way they looked years ago in them, and not adjusting for certain changes that occur with age.

We all have a perception of the world that is uniquely ours. For example, a recent study done by a soap company had women draw sketches of themselves, and then had a professional artist sketch the women. In most cases, the women (artistic ability aside) saw themselves as less attractive than they really were (if you agree that the artists' objectivity is valid).


Which brings us to the cold, hard truth that has slapped one of us in the face today: Rozi now thinks that she may have a bit of a weight problem. There, she said it.

Up until now, she was a happy go lucky two year old who loved nothing more than sleeping. And, eating. In fact, mostly the eating part because if it was possible to get through a day with your face in a bowl of dry food but without falling asleep, she would have done it by now. She didn't spend much time in front of the mirror (or, at least, she spent no time after realizing that it wasn't edible), and she's had few occasions to mingle with others of her "kind" and so has only her sister to use as a role model (for many reasons, including 'who to bark at', 'how to chase after squirrels', and 'how to run to the spot where a squirrel was within the last five minutes but is now long gone and probably directly above. laughing.') and she knows well enough (with mathematicians around her) that having one point of reference doesn't have much validity, since one of anything doesn't really indicate much. Therefore, both of us are not exactly sure about where we fit on any body mass or height/weight (or, in Rozi's case, height/weight/girth) chart.

And, there are times where other people, including some members of our household, have commented on her looks. And, yet, I think we can all agree that she is well-known to be big boned, and so the impression that she's larger than she really is is an easy mistake that can be made. That is, until today.

Today, while relaxing after having used up quite a bit of energy going down the stairs and eating and going back up and then going back down when the mean ol' mail man (or maybe UPS guy or FedEx person...they're all our sworn enemies) came to the house, Rozi found her bed and decided to rest before going on with her plans for the day. These plans, by the way, including finding laundry to pick up and run around with, checking the wastebasket for items that weren't solidly shoved in, and looking to see if maybe someone put food under the bed or in the closet (despite the fact that neither has yet happened, she holds out the possibility that it could...science, man!).

As she rested and found herself a cozy place on the edge of her bed, she happened to turn to her right and saw something that was truly shocking, and were she not so tired, she might have started to write about it right then,. but she was and so she didn't. What did she see?

She saw that she saw a see saw! (It's simpler than that, but she cold not resist dictating something that was tongue-twistery). That's right, the 'other' side of the bed was raised up, counterbalancing Rozi's body! She was sad, and spent the rest of the next two minutes wondering what to do; then, another delivery person came by and she forgot.

But, the fact remains: Rozi has now seen for herself that she is - perhaps - a bit larger than she may have thought at one time. And, she's going to do something about it. She's bound and determined that this won't happen again, and she has a plan to make sure that she feels better about her self.

She's going to sleep in the middle of her bed.

Arf, Yip, Yip, Arf,
Izzi & Rozi