Chelsea Kaplan’s Musings About Life... After Birth

Momtourage member Jamie is in many ways a hero to me.

A few years ago when she was barely 30, Jamie married Jeff, a fantastic guy who has custody of his 6th grade daughter. I imagine that a lot of women her age would have balked at the thought of marrying a guy if it also involved taking on mothering his preteen girl, but Jamie didn’t. She embraced both Jeff and his daughter with a heart full of love, and has never acted as if Jeff’s daughter is anyone other than her very own child. When we first met and I heard her story, I asked her how she deals with the difficulty of raising a surely hormonal, eye-rolling preteen girl. To my surprise, she giggled and was totally nonchalant about it, saying it is “totally fun”. “I love schlepping to cheerleading competitions and listening to the Black Eyed Peas song ‘My Humps’ so often that I’ve memorized all the words,” she laughed.  Sure, Jamie has moments of motherhood-induced stress and nuttiness, but don’t we all? She’s one of those moms who’s doing the best she can, but as far as I’m concerned she does a heck of a lot better than most.

Jamie, I so want to hate you because you’re smart, beautiful and you lost your pregnancy weight in a minute (the photo above was taken when her son was six months old - seriously, who looks this good in a bikini ever, much less six months after popping out a baby?), but I can’t; you ‘re a great friend and a terrific Mom. This one’s for you.