The “Mom-Arm” phenomenon

 

(Not to be confused with the First Trimester’s “This baby must be growing in my arse because I have to buy a bigger size of underwear before I have to buy maternity jeans” phenomenon.  Although I am betting [hoping?] that you have all been there too…)

I used to have pretty toned arms.

For no particular reason, my arms were muscular and defined.

And then, I had kids.

.

Why is it that having kids made my arms soft and slightly flabby?

My stomach? I understand.  A baby stretched that puppy out to high heaven- it deserves a little understanding

My hips and rear?  Well, I can get behind (no pun intended) the whole body-is-saving-fat in case of famine thing.

But my arms?

I am hard-pressed to find a mom, no matter the age, that has really toned arms.  And I bet that every mom finds them a bit flabbier than before.

What’s the deal?

.

I know that I am not working out per-se (haha! that makes me laugh.) but I am lifting a whole heck-of-a-lot more weights than I ever did before:

a 35 lb. weight named Joseph

and a roughly 12 lb. weight named Isaac

plus heaping laundry baskets

all

day

long.

Yet, the softness remains.

.

And please don’t tell me that moms get softer arms to “give better hugs.”

One, you lie. My body doesn’t want to give better hugs.  It wants sleep.

Two, hugs from strong, muscle-y arms are not so bad.

Think of a nice big hug from Jacob a’la “New Moon.”

Ahhh…

See?  Not so bad.

Now, quick imagine that he is over 18 so that you don’t feel so bad about that earlier thought.

But, I digress.

.

In summary of this slightly rambling post:

My name is Caitlin.

I am a mom.

My arms are mysteriously flabby.

But maybe yours are too?

The end.