As you can tell from the title (above), today's random rant/observation is about perceived size. With the wedding coming up and me trying to get in shape I am extra observant about the topic. Last weekend on my trip home, my mother presented me with a lovely pair of brown wool work-appropriate pants that she had seen and purchased with me in mind. That in itself was very sweet... in fact they were nice pants and I think I might have thought about purchasing them in some store before. What wasn't sweet was that instantly by looking at her holding them up at me, I knew that they would not fit. I told her it was a nice gesture, but again, I explained that I should probably be left to buy my own clothes because it's easier than having my mother guess at my size and have to exchange the item (which happens over and over). She immediately got offended and pleaded with me to just TRY them on at least so she can see how much too big they were (implicating that she didn't think they were too big at all).
Seriously... just by looking at them I could tell that in no way would the pants fit me. After some banter about this, I asked her what size they were. It was exactly DOUBLE the size I usually wear. DOUBLE. As in, my mother seems to remember me as twice as large as I actually am. I'm not upset about this even though it was only a month ago that I last saw her and there is no way I could have halved my mass in that short period of time. I'm not upset about this because it is a repeating pattern and I'm used to her trying to buy me clothes that don't fit. However, with the wedding only 7 short months away, I am perplexed that there is something about me that just SEEMS bigger than I am (or want to be). Maybe it's just my mom. Maybe it's everyone? Who knows - my mom is the only one who buys me clothes really.
I should probably get one of those stick-on disclaimers that they put on car side-view mirrors, only reversed.
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