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While waiting at another annoyingly long run of red lights, my children and I passed the time by playing word games, when a woman crossed in front of our car during my 8-year-old son's turn.

"I-Spy, with my little eye, something that is...wow...look how big that poor woman is!"

 [heavy sigh]

"Don't you think she needs to go on a diet, Momma?"

There it was.

Another one of those, "Well, how do I answer this one?" moments in my life when the kids hit me with one of those difficult, "Let me get back to you on that one," questions at the end of the day, when all I could think about was getting home, having supper and, you know, vegging-out!

"Perhaps she's on one, already."

Seemed like a logical answer - with our society's current obsession with weight loss, eating healthy and going organic - doesn't it?

Going deeper would mean acknowledging concerns over ever being able to maintain a healthy weight.

Anxiety of having gone through four pregnancies and wondering if those last 20 pounds will ever come off, or at least distribute themselves a little more evenly, rather than congregating in my mid-section.

I thought about my three daughters - one whose teenage metabolism I envied, the other's recent observations at not being the thinnest girl in the 5th grade and worrying about my littlest being so gosh darn little - and my son, who eats all day and yet his ribs seem to protrude alarmingly more with each bath.

I thought of the emotional and mental struggles they most likely will encounter in this "to look good is to feel good" world of ours, and I began to empathize with the unfit stranger, who happened to turn and hold my gaze.

She then gave me a bright and cheery smile that finally broke the spell.

"Hey, it's Friday - how about we get take-out!?!"

Hoorays all around.

Yes, I know - I caved - but, all I wanted to was to go home and, you know, perhaps it was best if I just learned to pick my battles, one meal at a time.

Besides, Friday just happens to be pizza and movie night!