summertime self- conscious

Summertime is here and that means swimsuits and pools. And I have been lately taking the smart boys for some frolicking in the water at the local club you can’t help but notice the people around you. Our extreme body conscious society makes you question yourself whenever you put on a swimsuit- and there is any discrepancy between a "real" you and a fake sports illustrated swimsuit model. On a scale of 1-10. I don’t know where I would fall, but you know I really don’t care. (smart daddy-o is required by virtue of our marital contract to rate me in the top quartile)
By my genetic ancestral heritage (Danish, Swedish, Scottish, English, Irish) I am fair- I love the way I look with a little summer color but I can by no means attain skin the color of a leather couch. It’s not only impossible, but I also care too much about my children and being alive for the future to attempt such color through natural or paid means (don’t get me started on going tanning- something only for the stupid). I don't look the way i used to but that is okay. My body is great- it does fabulous things, it gave me 2 amazing boys, and the ability to get up each day and do lots of great things. Sure I need to be kinder to it, fuel it better, and work it more. I don’t need things sucked, nipped, tightened, or augmented (although my many plastic surgeon friends have told me they could smooth out all of my trouble spots in a few hours flat) and it doesn’t need needed to be paraded in couple hundred dollar "this season" outfits to make me like it.
Because the truth is we all get old, we all change- we all make sacrifices (my 24" waist to have children- wahhh..) but what you look like in a piece of spandex says nothing about you. So just my reminder during swimsuit season. Remember what your body is good for, remember how lucky you are to have one that works and care less about the sizes and shapes of all your parts and pieces.