Shopping for Bliss and Acceptance

So, tonight the sweetest man in the whole wide world took four kids to Waffle House so his wife could shop for clothing.

Now, if you have had four children... or three children... or two... or one... Or let's face it, if you are a woman, you know that shopping for clothes can be a little, um, disheartening. But not always.

Long, gray, and graceful, the dress almost audibly screamed my name. (Just to be clear, I mean that I LOVED the dress at first sight, not that I'm long, gray, and graceful!) I had to try it on. I entered the dressing room eagerly, hoping, hoping, hoping that this dress would not disappoint. I slipped it over my head, and... bliss. It fit like a favorite pair of jeans - except that it was a dress. As I turned this way and that, gazing in the mirror and luxuriating in the comfort of said dress, I thought, "Wow, I am such a cute pregnant lady!"

Only... I'm. Not. Pregnant.

Right there in that fitting room I swallowed a hard pill. I knew what I had to do. At least, I had a vague notion of what I had to do. Hanging my head a little, I approached the fitting room attendant.

"I never thought I'd ask this, but do you carry Spanx?"

The kind soul directed me to the shapewear. I tried on a few specimens - not comfortable, but not as bad as I had thought they'd be.

And then, right there in that fitting room, I came to another conclusion: So what?

So I've had a few kids, gotten a little older... So my body might never be what it once was... So my maternal belly hasn't quite remembered its former shape... So a sweet, old lady at church might ask if I'm expecting again (True story, happened with the last dress I bought)... None of that mattered as I stood there in the most comfortable dress ever.

I accepted two things tonight.

1. Shapewear isn't all bad.
2. I don't need to deny the effects of four pregnancies.

I bought that gray dress, and I intend to wear it with all the grace and confidence of a woman who knows how good she has it (written as I glance at the most wonderful man in the world slumbering on the couch after a busy evening with our children).

Whether or not I'll wear that gray dress with Spanx,  however, is a secret I won't share... ;)