""Mom peed her pants again!" my middle child announces, giggling. I shuffle past in my sweats, feeling a prickle of embarrassment in front of my own family. My husband comes to my rescue. "Hey, your mom gave you life. So you can say thank you instead of laughing at her." I shoot him a grateful look. Last year, I bought myself a rebounder with the hope of trampolining myself into a stronger pelvic floor and erasing my love handles."
"None of these things makes me feel sexy or beautiful. I'm 38 this year. My friends in their 40s and beyond laugh at me. "Just wait," they gloat. Maybe that's why I've started mourning my changing body, sensing my most youthful years are behind me, and the creaking, tightening, and softening have only just begun. "Do you feel beautiful?" my husband asked me the other day."
A 38-year-old woman describes urinary leakage, creaking knees, a stiffer neck, and deepening smile lines as reminders of three pregnancies. A rebounder purchase aimed at strengthening her pelvic floor and reducing love handles produced the need for panty liners instead. Family reactions bring embarrassment but also compassion; her husband emphasizes gratitude and affirms his attraction. She sometimes prefers sex with the lights off and worries about aging's effect on desire and intimacy. Social and media messages cast aging bodies as problems to be fixed. A licensed counselor and sex therapist links fad diets, weight-loss drugs, and cosmetic surgery to a profit-driven industry.
Read at Scary Mommy
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