Today I had a post-partum check up and was waiting patiently for the doctor to come in. You know, half dressed, and praying that the baby would stay asleep in his car seat. I decided to pick up a parenting magazine I saw in the room and thumb through it while I was waiting. I won’t say which magazine it was, but I was shocked to find that this was like a people magazine, but for Moms.
For example, every other page had a celebrity on it with their child. Of course, they were dressed to perfection in designer clothes. Below the picture were captions like, “Look like a movie star with your baby!”, etc. etc. I sighed to myself, and thought, “really?” To follow it up, they then had “affordable” options to dress both yourself and baby like the rich and famous, for less.
I will be the first to admit that I’m not the trendiest Mom on the block, but I try to look my best when I go out. This usually includes putting some make-up on, and on a really good day blow drying and flat ironing my hair. Otherwise, it’s in a ponytail. But, am I trying to look like movie stars when I take my 3 month old, and two other kids out for the trip to Target? No.
Page after page revealed a new outfit that your stylish baby should be dressed in. Again, I thought to myself, “I like my kids to be cute, but trendy?” This Mom just doesn’t care, because frankly, that baby is most likely going to have a diaper blow out all over that outfit and end up in Plan B outfit instead.
I have noticed in the mothering world around me that it is more and more expected that we keep up with the movie stars. I was at the mall a while back and saw a Mom dressed perfectly. Every hair was in place, she was gorgeous, skinny, and looked absolutely stylish and movie star-ish. I glanced down at the child in the stroller, and that kid was one. hot. mess. She obviously wanted to look the movie star image but did not care one bit about how the child looked with food smeared all over her face, ratted hair, and stained clothing. I wondered and hoped that this Mom paid more attention to her child when it came to more important things like giving her some attention for the soul.
What happened to flipping through parenting magazines for advice on how to…get this: PARENT!?
Our priorities have shifted. But, for me, I would rather be the not so trendy Mom on the block with a kid that is clean, fed, and happy (both inside and out) than the trendiest Mom with a kid that is begging for my attention. But, that’s just me.
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