Wear The Dang Suit! | By Amy Kervin

August 17, 2018

It’s August. While everyone else is back-to-school shopping, I am determined to squeeze out every last drop of summer that remains. After all, there are just two weeks left before the schools are full again. Just two weeks to cram in all the things we had hoped to do and haven’t done yet; two weeks to enjoy lazy summer days with the kids at home; and two weeks to hit the beaches, lakes, and pools.

I love summer. I love long, slow days with my kids. I love warm temperatures and beach evenings spent with friends and family. I love that my kids want to be in the water 24/7. I love all that summer brings with just one exception: I hate having to wear a bathing suit. Like really hate it. And just maybe you do too.

It wasn’t always hard. My pre-baby self never thought twice about putting on a bathing suit. But my post-baby self, well, let’s just say it’s a different story. It’s not just the stretch marks etched into my tummy or the loose skin that hangs when I do a plank. It’s not just the cellulite or an extra few pounds. For me, it’s mainly varicose veins that riddle my legs and the swelling that results from them.

The truth is some days it feels so hard to put on that bathing suit that I’d almost rather not go to the beach or the pool at all. Almost. But I keep showing up because even when it’s hard to put on the suit, we need to do it anyway. We need to do it for ourselves…and we need to do it for our children.

Here’s the thing about kids: they don’t care about stretch marks, an extra few pounds, loose skin, cellulite or varicose veins. And they certainly don’t care what we look like in a bathing suit. They just care that we’re there when they need a hug; there to kiss skinned knees and to pick them up when they fall down; there to tell them they’re loved even when they make a mistake – they just care that we’re there.

So there I will be, in bathing suit when required, because someday I may not be there except in memory. And I want them to remember me – swimming, splashing around in the water, walking along the beach together, mud squelching between our toes. I want them to look back and know I was always there.

There’s just two weeks of summer before the kids are back in school so let’s get out there and enjoy them! And wear the dang suit! We’re so much more than what we look like in a bathing suit. We’re so much more than what we look like period. We’re the whole world to those little hearts that get to call us mama.

Hi! I’m Amy Kervin, and I was born and raised in Miramichi, New Brunswick. I am a mama of two, an educator with a BEd from Saint Thomas University, and an advocate for children and the parents who love them. I have experienced what it’s like to be a parent who teaches full-time, stays at home with my children and most recently, works from home – and I can’t decide which is most challenging! I know the way we parent matters, and I have recently channeled that passion into my own website and blog, Love Uncluttered. I strive to live simply, parent gently and connect deeply with my children. I don’t enjoy every moment of parenting, but I find moments of joy in every day. And even on the days it’s really hard, I wouldn’t give this parenting gig up for the world.