The Mom Body

It's no secret that children change our lives in amazing and wondrous ways. It's also no secret that kids can change the way we look and feel about ourselves as mothers. I don't want my male readers to stop reading here though, I think what I have to say might touch some of you as well. Maybe you aren't married yet and are looking for a wife- what I have to say might influence how you look at your future spouse. Maybe you have been married for many years and what I'm about to write about strikes you because I'm talking about the kind of woman you are married to. Maybe this strikes you because it's how you feel, but not yet how you act. Maybe this won't resonate with you at all....and that's ok, too. 

The Mom Body is more than a physical appearance. yes, our bodies change after we have kids. We are left with scars, stretch marks and bits and pieces of ourselves that will never be the same again. But, today I'm not focusing on the physical changes that come with motherhood and that help make up the outward appearance of The Mom Body. 

Today I want to talk about the other things that make up The Mom Body. 

The way we think is forever changed the instant an infant is placed into our arms. We no longer care about our personal safety, instead shifting the focus to our offspring. We will do anything, and I mean ANYTHING, to keep our children from harm. We're scared that every choice we make is going to do damage to our children. Our thoughts are no longer our own, our hearts are teetering on the brink of complete and total breakage and our minds are busy playing out every scenario from the day care drop off, to preparing dinner to any of the dangerous "what-if's" that plague everyday life. 

The way we act and feel is altered as well. We have a responsibility to treat out lives as the example we want our children to learn from and live like. Mothers must be careful what words come out of The Mom Body, for fear that tender hearts will hear them and commit them to memory. We must be cautious how we voice our displeasure, being careful not to wound a growing seed early on and stunting it's eventual emotional growth. We must be aware what clothing we drape The Mom Body with, asking ourselves if the woman looking in the mirror is what you want your daughter to look like at you age, or if the woman you see reflected is who you hope your son is married to some day. 

The Mom Body reaches far beyond physical appearance. The Mom Body is you, ladies, as a whole- you in your entirety. Your thoughts, actions, feelings and choices are all part of your own individual Mom Body. What you deem appropriate is your own choice, not mine or anyone else's. However, that being said, we must (MUST) be the adult that we want our children to grow up to be. We have to be the example that they can follow. We need to be all that is good and loving and kind- as well as the gentle reprimands and nudging back onto course. 

Mothers, your Mom Body is more than what you see in the mirror, but the moral fabric you choose to weave into your Mom Body is no less important that what you choose to display outwardly. Weave your fabric well, full of tender mercies, lessons, punishments and love. 

Your masterpieces will thank you and love you for it.