Friday Wrap-Up - My Baby is My Best Accessory

My Baby is My Best Accessory

I have a baby sitter that comes to watch my daughter every Wednesday afternoon.  I fought this idea at first (my husband was on "Team Sitter" long before our daughter was ever born).  I thought if I was going to be a SAHM, I should treat it as a full time job and would give it nothing less than 100%.  No night nurses, no nannies, no baby sitters during the week, period.  Yes, my husband travels every week and when he is home he works really long hours but this stubborn Mommy was looking forward to the challenge.

It only took a few weeks, a few days without showering, with the desire to start working out again (or rather sick of hearing my thighs rub together any time I wore pants), and with even a simple trip to the grocery store felt like running a marathon; I finally caved and agreed to having a sitter once a week.  Little did I know how much those 4 hours each week would do for my energy level, giving me the break I so adamantly denied I needed.

But I digress...Wednesday afternoons are reserved for running errands, cooking a real dinner, getting my toes painted, working out or lunching with friends.  Four hours to myself, four hours to recharge my Mommy batteries.

This week I found (shockingly) my to-do list was short, my meal planning caught up and I decided to giving myself a break from the gym.  What was left to do?

Shopping, of course. 

Too bad I hate shopping....REALLY hate it. I do 99% of my shopping online. No crowds to avoid, no fitting room attendants to give me "that look" when I ask for a bigger size, no overwhelming sales racks to comb through. I swear the mall gives me an instant headache; I have a negative physical reaction to something most people enjoy.

My last few shopping trips I had my baby with me, making it hard to traverse the racks and even harder to squeeze into a dressing room with a stroller. BUT I have found I don't mind shopping with the nugget. She makes me streamline my shopping and most importantly.... she makes me feel skinny. 

What? Did she just say her baby makes her feel SKINNY? 

Yes, yes she did.

You see, when I am trying on clothes a size (or two) above my norm, I find it painful. BUT when am doing this with my nugget, I feel empowered, confident, even skinny. 

What? Please explain yourself crazy woman.

It's simple, really. When I tote my little one around with me, suddenly the same fitting room attendant that otherwise took pleasure in my request for a bigger size would tell me instead how FABULOUS I look. I stand taller, pushing the stroller through the abyss, I look forward to the compliments and the smiles.

I have a confession, though. 

My daughter is a peanut, a little sweet tiny nugget. She was only 5 lbs 12 oz when she was born and although she has caught up now and is in the 45% for weight and 75% for height in her age group, there were a few months where the average onlooker would guess she was a month or two younger than she really was. 

CONFESSION: I would agree with them when they guessed she was younger than she was....I would lie about her age to make myself feel better about how I looked (insert shameful head shaking and gasps).

Yep.  That's right.


Until she was about 7 months old, when asked how old she was (while out and about with her Mommy) I would proudly say, "She's four months." Sometimes maybe five.


I know, I know.  SHAMEFUL.


But I did it.  I wasn't holding onto much baby weight and I knew once I stopped nursing those last few pesky pounds would likely fall off (I was one of the lucky ones who RETAINED weight while nursing - my body was under the impression I still needed to keep an extra 10 pounds of food source handy just in case there was a famine in Georgia). But still, it made me feel better to say she was younger than she was and like clockwork, it elicited compliments galore. 

Shopping alone I feel self conscious, head down grabbing duplicate items in different sizes not knowing what may fit this post baby body of mine.  I mention the fact that I have a daughter to anyone who will listen and wait for the compliments, but they don't come. 

CERTIFIED CRAZY.


But come on, please tell me some of you have done the same? No? Never? 

REALLY?

I have decided I DO like shopping after all.....

.....just NOT on Wednesday afternoons....and just NOT without....

....my best accessory.