The body of Motherhood

This is to all my sisters in motherhood. I wrote this in my journal a few days ago and wanted to share it with you.

As I was getting ready for bed one day, I caught a glimpse in the mirror of a true mother. Understand, I did say true and not perfect. I am far from the perfect mother. My patience has its limits. My temper occasionally rises. My three year old isn't potty-trained yet. My house is messy, and I hardly do crafts with my preschooler. But my body reflects what is on my soul. My hair is cut short so it won't be pulled. I don't wear earrings in fear of them getting ripped out. My eyes have bags from late night feedings and too-early mornings. My face and arms are sunburned from taking the kids to the park. My stomach is marbled with stretch marks from my oldest baby, and painted purple from the love my youngest wanted to leave on me. I have a fine line at my bikini line where my two gorgeous girls came into this world. I have saggy milky boobs that keep my baby alive. I have a deflated stomach that housed my babies for nine months. I have scratch marks from temper tantrums and broken nails from car seats  Needless to say I am no swimsuit model. But my body is a tapestry of motherhood that I want to keep and remember. These are scars I want to keep for the eternities. I'm sure when I get older, the smile lines will stick. The worry wrinkles will make their debut, and the crows feet will appear. I will gladly take those on knowing that the smile lines came from every hug my kids gave me. The worry wrinkles will come from every sleepless night worrying how to better raise my kids  and the crows feet will come from every, "I love you mom" that brightens my day. When the kids have grown and gone, to some I may look old. But to me, I will look like a mother.

So when we are looking in the mirror, let's realize how beautiful our bodies are. They show where we've been and remind us of who we are.