Why isn't Mommy in More Pictures?

This was my 1 1/2 year old son on the day he was born. So tiny and fragile. Perfect. He is my first born, and mine and my husband's life had turned upside down in the best way possible. The first week was the hardest. Night feedings, diaper changes, and surviving on 2 hours of sleep was a huge change. I think the first three months of his life, I had more coffee in my body than blood. I read all the parenting books, done research and planned for parenthood. However, nothing prepared me for my new body.
After giving birth, I had "a few" extra pounds as well as stretch marks. I like many women have struggled with a healthy view of my body since I was a teenager. The extra "mommy flab" I developed really threw me. As a result, I can count on one hand the number of photographs I am in during the first year of my son's life. I can't ever get those moments back. I always used the excuse, "I'm behind the camera, not in front." But the reality is, I never wanted pictures of me.
The reality is, our kids don't care what the scale says, our husbands don't care what the scale says. No. Only we care. When they look at family photos, they don't care what size you were, they just see their mama.
I am challenging you to step out from behind the camera more. Be in the moment with your kids, because you will never be able to re create the moment. You are beautiful, not because of your dress size or what number the scale says. You are beautiful because you are unique, you are special, you are their mama. 

Temper-Tantrums and Others Undermining Your Authority

                  

A huge issue a lot of moms have including myself have is having to defend our parenting choices as well as being validated by others, or lack there of. 

Last Saturday, my husband and I were at the grocery store (a weekly occurrence) with our toddler. The toddler was making the trip... memorable...... That adorable boy who just hours ago was hugging me and sharing his cookie with me was now a bratty tornado. When we would add things to the cart, our son would throw it on the floor. We would slap his hand, and say "no no!". This went on the entire trip, and the reprimanding didn't help. The siren-like wails of his temper-tantrums had us three shades of red, and all but running isle to isle, praying we weren't forgetting anything. I am currently 6 months pregnant with our second child, so really I was not in the mood for the behavior. My feet were swollen, I was hot, and a bit worn out. We got to the check-out, and our son decided to take that moment to climb up on the belt. I again slapped his hand told him, "no no!" and sat him back in the cart. The man bagging our groceries looked at me and said, "He's ok mom".  I have two major issues with this.

1. No bagger, it is NOT ok for my son to act-up in the grocery store or anywhere, period.

2. It is never ok to contradict a parent in front of the child. EVER.

Issues like this happen all the time. And the undermining comments are not always made by strangers. Just because I do not agree with the parenting choices of a fellow mom or dad does not mean I have the right to make a comment about it unless the child's well-being is being endangered. As parents we all have the same end-goal. To raise a happy, healthy productive member of society that respects his or her spouse and those around them. After all, they don't give you an instruction manual when they hand you your brand-new baby.