Allison Cooper

Then all of a sudden he stopped and muttered the words, “Nevermind mom, you don’t understand. You’re not a gamer.” That stopped me in my tracks.

My fingers are currently grazing the keyboard as my arms reach around my four week old, who happens to be strapped to my chest in our BabyBjorn – which has been my saving grace these days. She’s sleeping soundly, but just moments ago she was wailing (I’m speculating that I have a colicky baby on my hands) and this is the only way that I can get my work done. No shower yet today (it’s 1 pm, gross), pretty much all I’ve eaten is a quick bowl of oatmeal (and of course coffee) and have been up for the day since 5am (plus countless feeding during the night). But I’m chugging forward. Yup, being a mom of a newborn makes me feel superhuman.

Whenever you see a mom rocking her “mom-leggings,” and you judge or shame her, I beg you to take an effing step back, get off your high horse and take a second to understand that she’s just been through a lot and these leggings are giving her life.

Stretch marks. Tiger stripes. Road maps. Ant trails. Tattoos. Mommy stripes.

I can’t contain the thrill inside me to see where these beloved characters of mine ended up in life. There is definitely some binge watching of the original seasons in store for me so that I can make some educated predications.

Faux freckles. Come on. You know that you have always wanted to strategically place a little freckle and mimic what Cindy Crawford has naturally.

I grew up dreaming of living in that house with the perfect blue shutters and the white picket fence, three perfectly interspaced children running

There’s so much going on with a postpartum mom, so much more than meets the eye, and we need to be aware of that. Stop talking about her body!

This little, strong-willed, giggly baby girl is attached to me in every single way imaginable. It’s gotten so bad that any time I know I need to step out of the house, I feel myself worrying about it all day long up until the very moment I leave, because I know how bad her reaction is going to be.

Body-shaming exists, but we shouldn't accept it as just another sad and simple fact of life. Model Ashley Graham is on the front lines of this fight for body positivity.