A Mother's Body

Our society places a lot of unrealistic demands on women, especially mothers, to look a certain way. Women such as Jessica Alba, Victoria Beckham and Angelina Jolie are plastered on the covers of magazines in our neighborhood grocery check out lanes. We are told that *this* is how WE should look. Magazine cover stories all but scream "Look at her! You should look like this! It's soooo easy!!!"at unsuspecting (and sometimes fragile) women just trying to feed their families.

Well, excuse me, but who the hell are YOU to tell ME how I should look?

Let's be honest - these women have full time help and money to burn. So, they can hit up the gym for hours each day, get a personal trainer, and pay someone to cook healthy meals for them then serve said meals in the correct portion size. There is no guess work, no juggling a clingy baby on one hip while you weigh your chicken on a scale, no being called away from cutting up vegetables to clean up the spill in the living room. They don't spend hours up at night with a colicky newborn, then have hours to burn at the gym. It just doesn't work like that. If someone is telling me that she has 3 hrs/day to spend at the gym, eats perfectly portioned servings of food at every meal, showers, puts on make up and real clothes every day and has date night once/week - with a 3-month-old at home - I am going to tell her she is full of shit. Or lying. One of the two. Either way, I am calling shenanigans.

And this is who you think I - a work at home mom of 1 active little boy and 1 infant who is just starting (somewhat) sleeping through the night - should look like?

Piss off.

The only way I am able to do what I am doing with my body is because I am extraordinarily blessed to have an understanding husband and be able to afford boot camp and healthy food. It's as simple as that.

These days, I am making a concentrated effort to choose to focus on being healthy and becoming strong. On being secure in my own skin. Too many women lament how their bodies are imperfect - and don't get me wrong, I do too. But the truth of that matter is, if you're a mother, you've experienced something miraculous -- a new life growing inside of you. And that needs to trump feeling sad about the stretch marks all over your body. Just remember, those women in those magazines are airbrushed - real women are not.

I am happy to see sites and tributes dedicated to the changes a mother's body has undergone. A couple of my new favorites include Birthmarks and The Shape of a Mother.

It's about time we start celebrating our bodies and the lives they've nourished and brought into this world. It's time we start looking to each other as role models, instead of celebrities. It's time we focus on being healthy, strong and happy - instead of what society tells us the "perfect" mom should look like.

Your baby thinks you're perfect just the way you are, because you love him/her unconditionally. Love yourself the same way.

And yes, I'll try to take my own advice! ;)