Me

I spend a lot of these posts talking about Luke - he is my 24/7 focus currently so that's not surprising.

But this is a letter to the younger me and all the younger women out there standing naked in front of the mirror despairing at their 'less-than-model-perfect' bodies and wondering if anyone could love them.

Dear Miss Younger Kate 

(just a side note here an Afrikaans friend calls me Miss Kate and although it's inaccurate I LOVE IT!)

You hate so many parts of your body - take a breath - relax - look at each part in turn - me (older Kate) loves that same body as I've grown into it and learnt why each piece was gifted as it was.

You hate the too-big-for-high-street-feet, but they have carried me around the world, on safari, through street markets, over mountains, up aisles, around hospital wards, up and down corridors and soon you will find shops that make to measure!

You hate your too thick hair and bushy eyebrows that need constant maintenance, but as I get older I don't worry about thinning hairlines or tattooed makeup - we are future proofed.

You hate that your weight yo-yos; too skinny as a teenager, too fat in your twenties - punishing yourself into a svelte frame with running. But I love my allergy-free, sexually-responsive, Luke-carrying body -- which, now changed by the job it most recently performed, will God-willing house this soul for decades yet. These arms are strong enough to baby-carry, these legs firm enough to withstand Wellington winds, these hands delicate enough to stroke my child's forehead.

You hate your too flat breasts, your not-like-the-porn-mag nipples. After six months breast-feeding they're not flat anymore, the nipples are perfectly functioning, the baby is thriving and I am at peace with these beautiful boobs.

As I age, I look back at you, younger Kate, and remember some of the anxieties that kept me awake at nights. I know I would not be the same person if I hadn't experienced those worries. But just wait, hold on, and at every new challenge, remember; for better or worse - this too will pass.

Good luck

Love Older Kate