Super Mom

So, what does it feel like to be Super Mom? You know, the svelt and trim (baby? what baby? my flawless body has never nurtured a human, or so it's supposed to look like), house-orderly, cook in the kitchen and free woman in the bedroom with all kids neatly dressed (scratch that--adorably dressed in designer wear that you bought on sale) kind of mom? Well, clearly, I have no idea!

Can I be honest? I loved my post-baby body. Don't get me wrong--it did NOT look like the Victoria's Secret models' bodies. It didn't even look like a plus-size model's! A post-baby body is a unique creation. It's a transition figure...it had held the most precious gift once and now it nurtures it through milk. It's ownership is still somewhere between mama's and baby's. And there is nothing else like it in the world.

We don't see much of naked anymore. Don't get me wrong--we see plenty of smut. We see risque. We see inappropriate. And we see airbrushed. But we don't see much, if any, true naked bodies of real women. I remember the first time I used the "community" dressing room at Last Chance. I was shocked. I had never seen so many different bodies! I had honestly, and ignorantly, swallowed the lies that underneath everyone's body is much more perfect than mine. To be honest, that's all I had ever seen--the bare bodies of models or actresses. Not WOMEN.

I had a heart-to-heart with my/Dia's doctor today (have I mentioned the phenomenal Dr. Swan before?!). I asked her how to lose the baby weight. Her response brought tears to my eyes. I can't possibly convey it all in black and white, but her words brought peace over my physical being--literally.

I had loved my post-baby body....but kept waiting for it to return to the pre-baby body. It's as if I, and most/all of society, wanted to erase the miracle that took place in my physical being. It's as if I wanted to trade in the nurturing figure of a new mother for that of a 12-year-old boy. Gross. And yet, everyone else would call it successful weight loss.

Don't get me wrong--you know I am 100% for healthy. But a post-baby body is not an obese body. It is not a problem body. It is not a small boy's figure with implants.

It is a woman's body. And I love it. And I love the small, little, trusting baby it single-handedly brought forth. It is a body of victory and like all battlefields, it's a little rough right now. :) But every fading stretch mark and pouch of skin are part of what made my miracle possible.

And whether or not you have birthed a child, your body as a woman IS beautiful. It is a unique temple whose esteem lies within. You may hate it (which I doubt--the hate is usually transposed either by another feeling or by accepting worth based on someone else's view, not truly your own--maybe a mother, sister, friend, television, etc.), but you would be wasting your God-given time. And besides, there are other little people looking up to you, like my daughter, to see how she should value her body. Do me a favor and at least act like you like yourself. Do it for me. Do it for her.