Leftovers.
On Saturday night we went to a wedding. It was so much fun -- a rare night out with just Mike and I. He was able to take off work too so even better than he could let loose and not have to worry about being at work by 11pm.
I decided to wear my black and white 'tshirt material' dress cause it's flowy and comfy and was the first thing I grabbed. I made Mike take a pic before we went ^^^ cause you gotta document a kids free night right?! RIGHT.
We walked into the reception and before we got to our table I recognized a few of my friend's parents' friends and we walked over to say hi. One of them decided to greet me -- like the very first thing he said -- with this:
I totally wanted to pop him in the face. 😡😡😡 But I didn't, I took the high road, and said, "No, that's just residual leftovers for the 3 kids I've had in less than 4 years." Mike giggled to me after he walked away and said he didn't have room to talk, he looked about 11 months pregnant himself.
But you know what?! It stung. It did. My feelings were hurt because dammit, I sure wasn't pregnant and even though I'm still in that 'postpartum' (8 months, but STILL postpartum!) stage it doesn't feel good to have someone tell you they think you're having a baby and you're most definitely not. But I wasn't going to let that damper my night -- nope. I had a kid-free night, an adult beverage in my hand, and Taylor Swift's Shake It Off just came on so I changed my attitude, opened up Facebook and Instagram and penned this...
BOOM. Complete with a bathroom selfie I snapped after dealing with a rouge nose bleed.
I decided to embrace his comment. Yes, it stung like hell, but I wasn't going to let that ruin my night or dwell on it (which is kinda ironic because in writing this post aren't I "dwelling" on it?!! Maybe...but more so just putting it out there and telling you how I'm not letting it bother me ANYMORE and I'm embracing the hell out of it!). I am embracing the fact that my body was able to grow three beautiful, healthy, 9+ pound babies and has the “leftovers” to show for it. And even though this selfie is deceiving, if you look real hard you can see my tummy touching the dress, and I do have leftovers. A little fluff around my midsection that may look like a baby is in there currently but instead I'm embracing it and having it remind me that THREE babies were housed there for 9+ months to grow and develop and come into this world as healthy little humans that I am so blsessed to call my own.
I may not (nor never again!) be the size 4 I once was...but who cares! I am embracing it. Embracing my body here and now, my leftovers, my fluff. I’m a mama of three, a mama that doesn’t let these kind of comments jar me or anger me — a mama that uses these comments to remind me of all of the good I have and the three babes that I have carried and now get to hold that call me mom. I’m not about to pop, I’m lucky as hell, that’s what I am.
Embrace those leftovers mamas, whatever they may be. A little extra fluff, some stretch marks, wider hips, WHATEVER IT IS. Embrace it. Use those, like I am, to remind you of how strong you are, how fierce you are, and how you are a mama...and those memory marks are just that -- memories, GOOD MEMORIES, to show you how blessed and lucky you are to be called mom.
I decided to wear my black and white 'tshirt material' dress cause it's flowy and comfy and was the first thing I grabbed. I made Mike take a pic before we went ^^^ cause you gotta document a kids free night right?! RIGHT.
We walked into the reception and before we got to our table I recognized a few of my friend's parents' friends and we walked over to say hi. One of them decided to greet me -- like the very first thing he said -- with this:
Well hi there! It looks you're about to pop!
I totally wanted to pop him in the face. 😡😡😡 But I didn't, I took the high road, and said, "No, that's just residual leftovers for the 3 kids I've had in less than 4 years." Mike giggled to me after he walked away and said he didn't have room to talk, he looked about 11 months pregnant himself.
But you know what?! It stung. It did. My feelings were hurt because dammit, I sure wasn't pregnant and even though I'm still in that 'postpartum' (8 months, but STILL postpartum!) stage it doesn't feel good to have someone tell you they think you're having a baby and you're most definitely not. But I wasn't going to let that damper my night -- nope. I had a kid-free night, an adult beverage in my hand, and Taylor Swift's Shake It Off just came on so I changed my attitude, opened up Facebook and Instagram and penned this...
I decided to embrace his comment. Yes, it stung like hell, but I wasn't going to let that ruin my night or dwell on it (which is kinda ironic because in writing this post aren't I "dwelling" on it?!! Maybe...but more so just putting it out there and telling you how I'm not letting it bother me ANYMORE and I'm embracing the hell out of it!). I am embracing the fact that my body was able to grow three beautiful, healthy, 9+ pound babies and has the “leftovers” to show for it. And even though this selfie is deceiving, if you look real hard you can see my tummy touching the dress, and I do have leftovers. A little fluff around my midsection that may look like a baby is in there currently but instead I'm embracing it and having it remind me that THREE babies were housed there for 9+ months to grow and develop and come into this world as healthy little humans that I am so blsessed to call my own.
I may not (nor never again!) be the size 4 I once was...but who cares! I am embracing it. Embracing my body here and now, my leftovers, my fluff. I’m a mama of three, a mama that doesn’t let these kind of comments jar me or anger me — a mama that uses these comments to remind me of all of the good I have and the three babes that I have carried and now get to hold that call me mom. I’m not about to pop, I’m lucky as hell, that’s what I am.
Embrace those leftovers mamas, whatever they may be. A little extra fluff, some stretch marks, wider hips, WHATEVER IT IS. Embrace it. Use those, like I am, to remind you of how strong you are, how fierce you are, and how you are a mama...and those memory marks are just that -- memories, GOOD MEMORIES, to show you how blessed and lucky you are to be called mom.