Short, Slinky Spandex

How many of you find yourself comparing your appearance to others? I don’t do this often, but I did it yesterday. What I’m sharing with you is deeply personal, so please handle it with kid gloves.

As you all know, I gave birth to our third child last year. Many people tell me that I look “great” or “you don’t look like you’ve had three kids.” I politely thank them and go on my way. While compliments are nice, they don’t mean squat if you don’t buy them.

Last night I attended my brother-in-law’s wedding. So of course I was surrounded by young women with no husband and no children. Since Tre was in the wedding, I had the two younger children. The eldest was the flower girl, but became my charge after the ceremony. I did have some help from my sister-in-law and another one to be, but I they’re lightweights! My kids wore us all out. They were tired and cranky, and I was almost to tears before it was all over. Anyway…

The waifs were everywhere. For the first real time, I felt like covering my gray hairs. I felt older and more tired and bigger than so many! It was a strange feeling for me, and I’m not sure why it hit when it did.

Perhaps it was the overly tight, overly short dresses were in huge supply. While I have never dressed like that, it was because of my morals, not because I couldn’t pull it off. Now it’s a little bit of both. Clothes cover a multitude of sins. Baby pouches are unglamorous, and when you hate crunches and love cheesecake as much as I, you may always have one! The other thing is that even though my scale tells me I am the same as I was before babies, the weight is distributed differently, and gravity is against me! I guess I can’t be a convincing Catwoman this Halloween.

I guess it’s a good thing I have a God that looks at me from the inside out and loves me anyway. If I decide to get serious about exercising, maybe I’ll be the one in the short, slinky spandex at the next reception. Or maybe not.