Politics, Integrity or Mid-thigh, Semi-low Rise Mom-shorts?

It’s late August and time to pack for vacation. What’s a mom to do? Toss a few pairs of shorts in the suitcase. On second thought, why not wear hiking shorts to be ready upon arrival at destination. A few hours later finds our mom striding down the stairs of Air Force One at the Grand Canyon.

GASP. The First Lady has….legs.

Last week, the first family took a tour of the Grand Canyon. The temperature reached a million degrees. The First Lady wore shorts.

What was she thinking?

Probably that she was going to see the largest multicolored-rock hole in the contiguous United states with her husband and school age daughters. And that it was going to be blistering hot.

While her husband is rightly scrutinized about decisions on public policy, Michelle Obama was held under a microscope about clothes she wore on a family holiday. Earlier, she faced a barrage of criticism for going sleeveless. She obvious got that message for though bare-legged; she wore a very camping-chic, plaid shirt cuffed at her buff biceps.

In light of all the brouhaha, most thought the “mom-short” First Lady image only added to Michelle Obama’s authenticity. But the debate raged as to whether she looked appropriate.

Is “shortsgate” a thinly veiled reaction against her husband’s politics? I wish that were true.

This is more about the fact that Michelle Obama is…GASP… a woman. And society picks apart a woman’s appearance like 5 year-old boys dissect a grasshopper on the primary school playground. Men are tough on women. Women are tough on women. Grasshoppers probably are tough on women.

We’ve advanced light years in the last four decades. Not satisfied just to exchange recipes for pound cake, women have made the quantum leap to coveting phone numbers for the most skilled plastic surgeons in enhancements and anti-aging remedies. Stupendous progress!

I don’t know if it was “appropriate” for the First Lady to disembark from Air Force One wearing hiking shorts. But I am thankful what she seems to wear very sincerely is love and deep commitment to her husband and girls. What’s more important: political views, integrity and fidelity or a 45 year-old woman wearing mid-thigh shorts?

Though, I am curious about how authentic a family vacation experience can be traveling across country on Air Force One. Most moms find themselves peering down at the gaping Grand Canyon after days trapped in a car with fighting children and a frustrated spouse. Wonder if tucked under those seats on Air Force One we might find a few petrified McDonald’s French fries, empty Gatorade bottles and dried remnants of something that was once probably a chicken tender or at least some type of fried organic matter?

Now that would be highly inappropriate but very authentic. And best kept a national secret.