Dear Wife, remember YOU are beautiful

This post was written by Vije Vijendranath (My husband)

Dear wife,

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately, that doesn’t extend to the way you see yourself at times. The standard of beauty defined in the media has made it hard enough to maintain what society has told us.

I know… sometimes it’s really hard for you to wake up and stare in the mirror without wondering about what people are thinking about you.

I’m sorry… But…

I want you to know that you are BEAUTIFUL!

I love you for you and that is not going to change.

I remember your nephew at just over 2-years-old telling your cousin that she should be proud of her stretch marks. He gave them to her. Then he started going to crèche and at 4-years-old he was like “Mom you need to do something about your stretch marks, they look terrible!’

Amazing how society and media can influence our perceptions, isn’t it?

You should not be afraid to embrace you.

You don’t have to ask me if you are pretty – you are gorgeous!

I remember when you told me to take a photo of you because you looked pretty… Why? Because you had some “decent” makeup on. It doesn’t have to be this way and you don’t have to second-guess yourself anymore.

YOU ARE A MOM.

Beauty is no longer skin deep. Have you seen Barbie with children? Exactly!

You’ve given birth to a beauty that extends beyond your skin. You played an important role in creating an extension of yourself.

You created a little person, one who’s now full of hope, dreams, and character, running around becoming a whole new person. So when you see yourself, imagine these instead:

1. Your sore eyes – you know those dark circles under your eyes that you say that you have? That’s just a valley. A valley of experience from all the hard work you are putting into your growing children and not to mention your awesome blog. It’s not lack of sleep, it’s lack of time, birthed by your dedication to awesomeness.

2. Sore back – That’s just your muscles developing from carrying the children to and from, changing diapers all night, bathing them and making their food every day. Every superhero needs muscles. No pain – no gain. Those muscles will eventually make you a superhero. There might not be a movie about this but it plays in my head with a full-house audience.

3. Foot swellings/cramps – Those cramps? Remember Captain America? It is basically what he went through as well. Your superpowers are growing! And you are doing it without the experimental injections.

4. The C-section scars – You mean the beauty line running across your stomach? It’s a VICTORY scar. We gave life. Who needs a clean stomach that shows no story, no love, no experience? The one that reminds me you have given life to two more superheroes? We are building the Avengers! The world needs saving one person at a time and the more little persons that we have … the more people can be saved.

5. The frizzy hair – Yes, yes I know. The hair. It’s falling and you have to cut it short to keep it from falling further. It could be worse. I know since I lost most of mine. Why does hair have to fall? It happens to all superheroes. You grow muscles, you lose your hair, you take on the world! Who wants to be a Barbie mom with no responsibility?

6. The flat-shoes – High-heels? Who needs that! Enemies can’t be fought with those clunky things. Flat shoes can get you up and running in no time. What if our little superheroes-in-training need us to boost their powers? Well, high-heels shoes won’t help!

There you have it. Supermoms need their powers – and skin-deep beauty features don’t help. They only bring you down to what society expects you to do. Well, you know what… society is not going to bathe the kids, feed them, take them to school, teach them their first words or pay for their drama recital. Only we can.

I pick the Supermom who is already creating magic. Whom have you picked?