daughter – Greek Mom Moments

So as I sit here and type this I think it is important to give you a bit of history as to how I came here. For the last nine months, hubby and I have been following a Keto way of eating (WOE). What that means is that we eat high good fats, moderate protein and low carbs. Low carbs in the area of less than 20 grams a day. To give you an idea that is one average sized potato or the bottom of a hamburger bun. They call this a WOE because truly you’re changing your thinking about food, which in turn is changing your body. So with this new WOE has come weight loss. And with this weight loss has come the need to purchase new clothing. Now for a girl who has been in the plus sized world her whole life, moving out of that world into the “normal” store world is a bit daunting. In the plus sized world, I knew that when I walked into the store, it would be people who looked like me. Either a little bit smaller or a little bit bigger, but at the end of the day if you weren’t of a certain size, you weren’t shopping there. In the “normal” world, the size zeros and two intermingle with the size 14 and 16s. And you have everything in between.

I am a tailor’s daughter in case you didn’t know so from a young age I understood body measurements and the importance of knowing them and altering clothing to fit your type of body. So one thing I had going for me this whole time is my measurements were that of a models. No, no I never had a model’s body but my measurements were even, they fit. Now this new body isn’t even and doesn’t fit. So dresses are out and mix and match is in, which brings me to my latest shopping expedition. I go to the GAP in hopes of finding some clothes. Their jeans tend to fit me well. Now one little tidbit that I’ve found is that the outlet clothes in adults fit larger than at the actual store, where as the outlet kids stuff needs to be sized up.

Anyways, I’m at the actual store and find a pair of jeans I’m looking for in my size, super. Then I move to tops. I’m looking at a few different ones and you know when you can just tell some stuff is sized bigger? Well in this case I grab a medium, large and XL. Three different designs, three different sizes and all three fit. Now I assure you if you haven’t seen me I’m in no way shape or form a medium size. But thank you Gap for stroking my ego for a few minutes. But my point in bringing this up is we have a generation of girls growing up with visuals of models who are size 0, 2 and 4s and while progress is being made both on the runway and in mainstream media to show women of all sizes, this crap is playing with our minds. How is a girl not going to feel bad when she really is a medium but can also fit into an XL? Why can’t there be more consistent sizing? Why can’t your measurements reflect the same size regardless of the brand? How can the measurements of a typical size 8 be considered an XL by some manufacturers? Seriously clothing industry?! As a mom to a daughter, I know that these are issues that she will face in the coming years and something that we’ll have to navigate together.

What is your experience? Have you ever been able to wear multiple “sizes” in one store? Is my experience a one off or am I not alone?

Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

We’ve had a busy week. Miss K started two of her fall classes. I know if you’re Greek you’re sitting there saying she’s sending her kid to school now? She should have started a couple of months ago! We are adding onto our nursery rhyme collection…if you remember I’m better with the Greek ones than the English ones. One class is primarily rhymes and reading so we should be able to add to our repertoire! We’re also excited to have our paternal γιαγιά and παππού back from Greece. Of course they spoiled the little one. We’re beyond loving our new Ζουζουνακιά collection (see picture below).

It is important to me and hubby that our little Miss is able to grow up embracing her Greekness. Growing up in the διασπορά it is hard to be able to continue those customs and traditions that were instilled in us by our parents. When I was 21 I spent 3 months in Greece after finishing my degree. I primarily spent the time in Athens but I did spend a week or so in my dad’s village. My dad’s village finally got asphalt roads that year if it gives you a visual of what it was like. My aunt and uncle from the US (God rest their souls) were in Greece that summer. I was walking with one cousin from the aunt and uncle’s house to our house. We could see sitting about 4 houses down two little old ladies, widows, as they were dressed all in black. As we were walking closer I heard one say to the other, “έρχεται η αμερικανα”…”oh here comes the American.” I of course with a big smile on my face respond in my perfectly accented Greek, looking behind me, “που, που είναι η αμερικανικα;…Where oh where is the American?” The women were in shock, literally jaws dropped. They continued to say, “παιδί μου μιλάτε ελληνικά;…My child you speak Greek?” I replied, “φυσικά μιλάω ελληνικά, εχω αποφοιτήσει από το Ελληνικό Σχολείο, kai σπούδασα ελληνική μελέτες στο πανεπιστήμιο….Of course I speak Greek I finished 8 years of Greek School and minored in Modern Greek Studies in university.” Well needless to say the ladies were shocked. They could not believe that an “Amerikanaki” like me could speak Greek with no detection of a foreign accent or anything.

One thing my father said many years ago and has stuck with me is he didn’t learn how to speak English so his kids could learn to speak Greek. Now at the time growing up I didn’t understand what that meant. Seriously you moved to a foreign land why wouldn’t you give it your all to learn everything you could. Now don’t get me wrong he had a successful business and is able to hold his own but now that I have a daughter I understand a bit better what that meant. If we don’t keep the language alive in our homes then it will be lost forever. I try to speak Greek to Miss K all the time. Why you might ask? Because I know that the older she gets the more prevalent the English language will be in her life. Now is my chance to instill in her some of those traditions that were passed on to me, so when she goes to Greece 20 years from now on her own for 3 months the next generation of little old Greek ladies can be as shocked at how my Greek-Canadian/American daughter can speak better Greek than the locals!