The glossy magazines and interwebs are full of photos and stories of “Yummy Mummies” – celebrities who have given birth but have bounced back to their pre-baby (often anorexic) shape within seconds days.
Meanwhile, I’m still struggling to get rid of my baby belly, nearly 19 years after giving birth to this gorgeous girl … 😉
Before you can say “congratulations”, they’re back in their smart outfits with perfectly coiffed hair, strutting down the red carpet – a baby is not going to cramp their style! They remain dedicated to being as gorgeous as they were before they had children.
I’m sure I’m not alone in sometimes wishing that *I* could be a yummy mummy (thankfully the hubster says I am, but then the dear man wears glasses … ). We all like to look our best after all, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Introducing the Motherly Mother
However I’d like to think that there is an even more worthy goal that we could be aspiring to: being a motherly mother.
What is a motherly mother you ask?
She is a person whose heart is full of love. Someone who is motherly knows how to listen and show interest in others, and how to really care. She has a ready smile, and a welcoming and approachable demeanour. She is a source of comfort to her loved ones and she gives the best hugs! She may be slender, but it’s more likely that she tends towards a cuddly shape, especially as she ages (all the better to hug you, my dear!).
She may work inside or outside the home. She might wear makeup every day – or she may not. Her style may be corporate suits and high heels, or trackie dackies and fuzzy slippers. But whatever it is, she makes the most of what she has without going overboard and spending money she doesn’t have, and is always appropriate (she doesn’t go grocery shopping in an evening gown!).
Her home is welcoming, whether it’s a caravan, a rented unit, a house in suburbia, or a palace, and provides a shelter from the storms of life. All who enter know that they will leave feeling more rested, uplifted, and refreshed.
A motherly mother doesn’t judge others but accepts them as they are. She is a woman of integrity and keeps her word – those who know her trust her and sing her praises.
I don’t know about you, but I wish the media featured less of the yummy mummy and more of the motherly mothers. Because when it comes to the crunch, who would YOU rather have as your mum, your sister, or your friend – a yummy mummy or a motherly mother? And who would you rather BE?
Who is the most motherly mother you know and what is it that you love about her?!
Linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.
I am mamma to just one fur baby but I still have the pocket in my tummy! I think it’s a mid thirties thing that happens to us all. I don’t know how to get rid of it. All those celebrities have nannies and trainers and chefs. Sigh. It’s not normal life.
I should have mentioned in this post, that a motherly mother doesn’t have to have children. Fur babies definitely count 🙂
Motherly mothers are the best! The articles in the magazines (that I flick through in the supermarket queues) that attract my attention are the celebrities who look as though in addition to being a yummy mummy they are also a motherly mother. Celebrities who look like they actually do mother their children and don’t just outsource it to nannies!
Hmm, I wonder which celebrities manage both? Can you think of any examples? I think Princess Diana managed it with her boys 🙂
I actually wrote about this earlier this year- the pressure on women to be back to “normal” is immense and unrealistic! We all need to accept the new normal after babies. Great piece !
Have a read of mine if you like 🙂 http://www.handbagmafia.net/my-post-baby-body-is-amazing/
Off to check it out now Amy. I wish my body was as “overweight” as I thought it was after having my babies – now about 10 kilos heavier again!!!!
How gorgeous is your daughter (and all those cats!). A motherly mother is the best – I cannot wait to be a Mum myself and be all kinds of homely, kind and and loving. High heels and a caked on face is not me! x
I’m sure you’ll make a great mum!
Often the quickest way to get me to stop reading is when I see a headline, “Such and such debuts post baby bikini body”. I do not care one bit!
I am trying to get my post baby body under control (4 years after the fact) but I am doing it for ME. Not because of an unrealistic media image. I am doing it for my health because I want to be full of energy and happiness and good mental health, which will ensure I’m the best mum I can be.
I think it’s about priorities! I’d rather be not perfect looking, but a great mum any day x
Well said, Kez! I’d rather be a great mum too 🙂
I’m pretty sure I’m somewhere in between closer to motherly mother than yummy mummy. My babies are now 14, 15 & 17.
I’m sure your kids wouldn’t complain about having a motherly mother, even though they might be at an age where they might be embarrassed by you!
I agree. Motherly mothers are so much better. I hate the term Yummy Mummy!
I do too – unless it’s applied to ME! ROFLMAO …
My mum is a motherly mother. I know kids get to an age where they’re more self-conscious of parents but I love when they’re young and really just see people for who they are inside.
My friend’s little boy just adores me and wants to hug me all of the time…. while asking if there’s a baby in my belly.
No. Just fat.
But he doesn’t care.
I wish I’d had a motherly mother. I just try to be one for my own kids! They seem to have moved past the “mum is embarrassing stage”, thank goodness 🙂
Beautiful thoughts on what really matters, Janet. I’m blessed to know lots of motherly mothers, and I try hard to be one.
Me too Liz!
Yes I agree entirely. There is so much pressure on young Mums to have the perfect life, including the home, the car and the glamorous looks. Yummy mummy’s are definitely very prevalent where I live. They powerwalk or jog with their designer strollers along the beachfront every morning looking resplendent! I think I was a more motherly mother rather than a yummy mummy.
When I think of the pressure I put myself under as a young mum to be a yummy mummy – wouldn’t leave the house until I looked perfect, and the kids were “just so” … we didn’t get out much as a result! I might not have achieved the whole yummy mummy thing but I think I managed the motherly mother pretty well, at least my kids seem to think so 😉
Oooohhhh! I love this! Food for thought 🙂
It is indeed … what really matters?!
This has become all so obvious as I have just started school with my first daughter and am seeing both types of mother. I whole heartedly agree that a motherly mother is far better and I think my own mother set the best example for me to follow. #TeamIBOT
You are a lucky lady indeed to have had such a mother! Sadly, I didn’t but I think I managed to be a motherly mother to my kids despite not having a role model myself …
I like the sounds of this woman Janet. She sounds like she’s about 31 and full of proverbial wisdom 😉
Haha, how did you guess Jess?!!! I first wrote this post as a devotional many years ago, just took out the Scripture reference and overtly Christian slant 😉
A motherly mother who puts her kids first (rather than her post-baby weight loss) but still takes care of herself and feels she deserves some self-care (because we all do) – that’s the best kind of mother I reckon.
Yes – it’s all about balance, really 🙂