Cruel Joke

It's been quite a while since I posted anything here. I'm not too sure why.
I found this forgotten rant from last Spring in my drafts . It still holds true, so I figured I might as well dust off the page, even if it's with an old rag.

The Beauty Love Left Behind. 

A mark for every breath you took, every blink, every sleepy yawn. One for every time you sucked your thumb, waved hello, closed your eyes and slept in the most perfect darkness. One for every time you had the hiccups. One for every dream you dreamed within me. It isn't very pretty anymore. Some may even think it ugly. That's OK. It was your home. It's where I first grew to love you, where I lay my hand as I dreamed about who you were and who you would be. It held you until my arms could, and for that, I will always find something beautiful in it.
I stumbled across this on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago and it's been nagging at me since. At the time, it had been liked over 5100 times and repined over 12320 times. I have no idea how many comments have been made, but after reading through them, I realize that I am either in the minority regarding my feelings about this cruel joke played on women, or these women that have commented are liars. It could be that  there are plenty out there who feel the same as I do, but don't want to voice a "negative" opinion and risk being judged poorly. But what some call negative, I call honest. There were a few comments that said things like, "Wow. I've never thought about it like that. I feel so much better! Thank you for sharing." You've honestly never thought about it like that? Did you also think that you wouldn't get pregnant if you did jumping jacks after sex? 

I see nothing beautiful about the stretch marks on my body. This does not make me a bad Mother nor does it mean that I love my children less than the Mom who happily embraces her disfigurement. I have never once looked at them and reminisced about about pregnancy or the wonders of my children. Half the time I don't notice them. The other half, I think the whole thing is a load of shit. After incubating your precious bundle for 40 weeks, going through labor, and sacrificing your own (personal and/or professional) needs in order to raise a competent and decent human being, your reward is being scarred for life. Bullshit. It seems more fitting that a scar be removed for every sacrifice made as a parent. Or how about for every shinning moment that your child demonstrates that you are doing a terrific job as their parent, a scar will fade to nothing?

Obviously, I tend to spend a lot of time in Hollie's Magically Fair Fantasy Land.