Working Mum: Selfcare, Spanx and Mumlife 

Rebecca Grainger - 17 Oct 16

This week I’m having so many reminders of the changes we go through when we become a mum.

I’ve got a work function on Friday, out of town at a posh hotel and restaurant, so I’ve needed to get ‘sorted’.

I’ve tried for weeks to get a new dress and nothing is ‘me’ or looks right or fits, mostly because my boobs are enormous and never went ‘back to normal’ after breast-feeding.

My staple ‘mum-gear’ is t-shirts and denim, while the ‘dressed-up-me’ rarely gets an airing, in fact, I’m really not sure what ‘she’ looks like anymore.

So, instead of a new dress, I bought a spanx bodysuit. To wear under my favourite, fail-safe LBD. Side note: spanx is amazing, it really does suck it all in and slim-line the silhouette!

Instant weight loss.

Next up, shoes. I mean, what can go wrong here, right, feet don’t get fat. Luckily, shoes were my pre-mummy weakness so I have a fabulous designer collection that I never get to wear.

And I never will. Not one pair fits anymore. Not one. I can’t even wedge my foot in!

Total ugly sister moment.

Thanks relaxin, my feet have spread so much I’m now selling my stilettos on eBay and will live forever in thongs.

Next up, pampering.

Admittedly, I’ve not kept up with the monthly grooming I used to have time for. I remember clearly my last wax because she stuck me together. Yes, literally. I did have visions of being put in an ambulance with a bucket of wax on my lady garden.

Anyhow, the lady garden needed attention again and based on the extortionate ’discretionary’ charge I need more regular maintenance.

Most expensive Brazilian ever.

Finally, a spray tan, which I always find takes off a few kilos and makes you glow. Embarrassingly, I realized my not-so-pert-boobs needed a little help when she hoisted each up, sprayed underneath and then blow-dried….

Nope, I’ve never needed that ‘assistance’ before! However, if I want to run around with my hands in the air (like I just don’t care) then I have a fabulously tanned under-boob carriage.

I blissfully ignored her advice to go bra-less: walking through the CBD peanut-smuggling without scaffolding at rush hour, is not a look I want to rock.

On my commute home, I reflect on the lessons I’ve learnt over this last week, and I’m grateful.

Grateful that I’m blessed with a child who makes me want to be a better person and create a better world by teaching me every day what’s important in life: the tan, the waxing, the new dresses and designer shoes, posh restaurants and fancy hotels, they’re all very nice to have.

But what’s really important is how we feel on the inside.

True happiness comes from within us and flows from acceptance of what’s happening outside of us.

So I’m embracing the changes, the scars, the softness, the extra bumps and all that motherhood is, after all, they’re the result of growing a little human.

For more positive inspiration on your motherhood journey join the Positive Mama Sisterhood with other like-minded successful, spirited mums who want to have it all or visit www.rebeccagrainger.com 

Rebecca Grainger

A coach and healer for mums, empowering career women transition to motherhood and mums transition back into the workforce, with confidence, clarity and fewer bumps. She's on a mission to inspire women to thrive because your vibe affects your tribe: the happier, more fulfilled and balanced your life is, the better you'll cope with the demands of parenting. A British ex-pat living on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, wife and mother to one spirited toddler, she likes to drink wine and eat chocolate, wearing yoga pants. It's called balance. You'll find her talking all things mum with a little woo on her facebook page or connect with her in the private Positive Mama Sisterhood http://bit.ly/1pcVWh2

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