Summer Swimsuit Guide to Life

Smack dab. Summer solstice is just 8 days away, ladies. By now, most of us have amped up our sunscreen supply thanks to these wonderful reminders from fellow KMB pals, Jenny and Francesca. We’ve paid our membership dues to the local water parks or perhaps reserved our beach front properties for the week of our family’s choosing, too. Summer is here. The delightful time to maximize in the infamously unbridled “let loose” with your people has arrived. Time for neighborhood pool parties and colossal splashes into the nearby watering hole atop one gigantic inner tube all for the sake of joy, togetherness and the good ole outdoors.

With fun and sun upon us, it’s disheartening and spirit squelching that so many Moms feel uncomfortable in bathing suits. Perhaps it’s because as a society we have this big barbaric choke hold grasp on the aesthetics that live within the nylon/spandex blend of quite possibly the best 3 months of freedom from schedules our family will ever know. Sans school and soccer schedules and scout troop shindigs, our 4 walls of home are primed with some beautiful kind of opportunities to release and rejoice.

Bathing suits vs. Moms. With double fist bumps, I absolutely applaud this recent article from the Huffington Post. Moms sacrifice on so many fronts for the sake of their children. It’s high time we lay claim with a hallelujah yes to this very truth:

We’re meant to model. Most certainly, we are. In ways of courage and diligence with equal parts joy sending fantastic messages to our kiddos that life is one brilliant adventure. Life’s meant for movement and for memories. Not for hiding behind the idea that a nylon/spandex combination defines us.

Follow these 4 steps to bury that Barbie inside you and unleash the greatness there within that absolutely no amount of spandex/nylon can contain.

Knowing your body type is crucial in carrying the confidence not just in clothing, but in your swimsuits too. This link on Pinterest is one of the most thorough and great body informing links I have found with regard to selecting the suit that serves you best. Don’t hesitate to bathing suit shop with a group of trusted friends. An honest opinion far outweighs a hopeful guess.

Once you’ve given your body the best fit, begin transitioning past the apprehension you may have with wearing this swimsuit in public. Focus on what you want from the time spent with your kids and family instead. Do you want them to remember the 57 times you tugged at you mid-section or slouched your shoulders and hid under a towel?

Nope. You want them to remember that Mom won the water war or had the best cannon ball into the pool. Memories always ALWAYS trump looks. Remember that. The more you allow your heart to soak up the so good that’s happening around you, the less you have time to consider the ways you don’t look like the plastic doll sold by Mattel WHO IS FAKE, btw.

Because as women we’re tempted. Before we even realize, we consider our surroundings. And unless it’s casting our gaze at the bright puffy clouds or the seagulls dodging the crashing waves nearby or keeping a careful eye on our children absolutely having a blast in the pool, DON’T look. Don’t set yourself up to compare yourself to other Moms/women. Because the truth is about 85% of the ladies around you are feeling the exact same anxiousness inside their nylon/spandex too. REGARDLESS of their size, weight, age or shape.

Moms are not meant to be Barbies. We’re meant to be ambassadors of life.