How do you react when your child spews all over your outfit for the day? What is beauty, really? Does it go beyond appearances?

I know you’ve been there: all dressed up, ready to walk out the door, when bub throws up all down your front. Do I: A. Drop everything, change my outfit and risk being characteristically late? Or B. Wipe myself off and keep walking?

I chose B.

And that was a defining moment for me. In my life BC (Before Children), I possessed a healthy amount of vanity, spent a decent amount of time in front of the mirror and took a certain amount of pride in my appearance. But something has changed.

A New Person

Perhaps it’s because the most amazing, incredible, ethereal experience that’s ever happened to me, occurred when I looked like something out of a horror movie (and I’m not even kidding). 26 hours of hard work and excruciating pain culminated in a moment of unadulterated euphoria, when this hot, wet, tiny little body was laid on my chest and suddenly I was born… a mum!

My life (and my body) had irrevocably changed forever, and there simply aren’t words invented that describe how incredible that felt.

A few 3 am feeds later and my carefully coiffed hair was more greasy than lustrous, my once ‘bikini body’ had lost its battle with gravity and my makeup bag remained closed.

It made me really think hard about what true beauty really is.

Genuine Beauty

It comes from a place deep, deep within. A place that remains untapped by the beauty industry because it can’t be patented.

There’s something about unimaginable joy that exudes a beauty far greater than skin-deep — it’s soul-deep.

These days, I can’t afford designer labels. To be honest, I’m just happy to be wearing clean underwear. And I may never wear a sexy pair of heels again, but I’m quite content with wearing slippers till well after midday some days.

A smile from my boys gives me a sense of pleasure far greater than freshly plucked eyebrows ever did.

It’s funny… while I’m busily trying to teach my kids all about life, without even trying, they’re quietly teaching me what life is all about.

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Originally published at Mum Daily. Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels.