Mommy and the Invisibility Coat

For all of you who are big Harry Potter fans like myself, did you ever experience a moment of envy when Harry was given the Invisibility Cloak from Professor Dumbledore? Apparently I subconsciously did.

Now for those who don't know me, I am a blonde. Okay .... well a rapidly greying blonde, who has been known to practice the occasional moment of what you would call "Blonde Moments". You know ... those situations where you really don't think before you speak and things come out sounding totally stupid. Or ... those moments where things really don't make sense to you despite everyone else around giving you that look of disbelief and are secretly searching for evidence of lobotomy stitches. Yes? Well I had one of those moments the other day.

As it has been well documented on my blog .... my pregnancy has been a source of both humor, fear, pride and stress. At first I was dismayed that I looked fat; not pregnant. Then I hit the next stage where I kind of looked pregnant, but one could argue that it was fat. After that, it became that obvious pregnant look but just how far along. When a woman is pregnant, she wants to look pregnant. She wants to have that as a non verbal excuse if she happens not to be having a great hair day, or if the clothes aren't fitting just right or if she is just plain having an uncomfortable off day.

This brings me to what my sister now calls my Invisibility Coat. My winter ski jacket. When first realizing that I would be pregnant in the winter, one of the most immediate thoughts that crossed my mind was, "How on earth will I keep warm when outside". After confiding this to my sister, she had a closet full of old coats that she had worn prior to losing 60 lbs. We rummaged through that closet and picked out two dress coats that we felt would be suitable. One would be big no matter how big I got and the other would be perfectly suitable for that mid stage. I now had the answer for my winter dilema. Summer slowly turns to fall and fall rapidly turns to winter and before you know it the snow is here. Now I am not complaining, but I really haven't gained a lot of "apparent" weight so far in this pregnancy. Apparent meaning obvious. When pregnant with Kaelen, I gained 55 lbs and birthed him 7 weeks early! With this pregnancy, I have only gained 30 lbs and I am still pregnant! And, as most women can identify with, after a while, you get tired of wearing the same old thing day in and day out despite the excitement and determination just to wear it in the first place.

This brings me to my ski jacket. When wearing my ski jacket, in my mind, you really can't tell if I am pregnant or not .... and the best part is that I don't even look fat (in my mind). So over the past two months, I would entertain my vanity by wearing my ski jacket and feeling great. It was almost like I felt sexy again in an active way. I pretend as I walk around that I am that lithe and active Momma again, yet at the same time would whip open my jacket at any given moment to proudly show off my rounded belly.

My dear ol' sister however sees things differently. Just last week when meeting for lunch, she comments on my tubby, rotound form as I stand waiting for her. In was in a jest but I can honestly say that I was perplexed. After all, I was wearing my Invisibility Coat. You know ... the one that makes me look fabulous. I did make the fatal error by asking her "You seriously think?" and went on to confide that I thought that I didn't look pregnant in this coat. Much to my surprise, she started laughing her belly off and went on to share my comments to a few of my coworkers.

Now between my sister and coworkers, I get teased on a daily basis and asked if I am wearing my magic coat. They chalk it up to one of my blonde moments and I good naturedly respond yes and take it in stride. However, I won't really fess up to all of them that I truly thought that this coat made me look like a super model.

Perhaps those cliches about blondes are true ... or I am more obsessed with Harry Potter than I realized. Yes .... I think I will go with the Harry theory. Wouldn't you like to have an Invisibility Cloak or Coat though?