Last week, despite my better judgment, I went swimsuit shopping. The glare of the fluorescent lights against my lumpy thighs and my extra flab hanging over the edge of the waistband was enough to make me want to crawl under a rock and not come out until winter.
My son, however, LOVES to play in the water, so when we were invited to go to the pool with some friends, I couldn't say no. I had eventually picked out a swimsuit while shopping, one with a skirt, to hide as much of my body as possible.
I had trouble sleeping the night before the big outing to the pool Mostly I was worried about watching the kids and keeping them safe in the water, but part of me was very nervous about being in public wearing nothing but a very mommed-out swimsuit. I kept picturing women strutting around, wearing bikinis and high heels and showing off their flat stomachs, toned arms, and long, tan, cellulite-free thighs.
Much to my surprise, though, the other women at the pool looked a lot like me! And not ONE of them was wearing high heels! I was so relieved when I saw other skirted mom suits! There were lots of women even wearing bikinis that didn't show off their perfect bodies, but rather showed off muffin tops and stretch marks and varicose veins! It was glorious!
These women I saw at the pool were REAL. They were not the airbrushed image of a woman that the media projects upon all of us. MOST of us don't have perfect bodies, but rather have flaws. And those flaws are OKAY!
Although I still want to look better, I don't feel like I really look THAT bad. It's very comforting to know that how I look is how a LOT of us look. (It also makes the my terrible food choices this past week not sting so much.) (I'll do better this week!)
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Thanks for the encourragement! I'll also be adorning my "Mom suit" this summer. Nice to know I'll be in good company.
On June 9 – you posted a give-a-way to be announced June 15th. Have you chosen a winner yet?
I bought the sexiest suit I could find that still covered me up a bit. I couldn't do the skirted suit. I did get a sheer black pareo that can get wet and be dry in 3 minutes, so no need to take it off if I don't want to.
Yes, you see some real confidence boosters at the pool!
Nancy, I'm not aware of a giveaway? Maybe it was another of the Blissfully Domestic contributors!
I totally can relate to your post… I started water aerobics last year… The first day I carefully skirted my way around the edge of the pool and got into the water a little while before the class was due to start. Much to my amazement… I was the youngest member there… the rest of the class members were all senior citizens… Talk about making my day, my week, my year
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I always say if I'm feeling fat and want to believe I'm skinnier than I think I am, just go to the beach down here.
I love love this post! At my pool we're all going into pregnancies, heavily pregnant, coming out of pregnancies or just the bearer of regular mom bodies. Everyone is real, we do the best we can. As long as you're healthy, don't sweat it too much. And never compare yourself to the SI swimsuit issue.
Even when actresses and models are photographed at the beach, they still have jiggle, cellulite, veins. Magazines are not reality, they're basically computer-generated avatar representations of people.