Life Lessons from Kelly Clarkson

Alice Seuffert

Fill Your Bucket

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Dear Kelly Clarkson,

My hands clutched the wheel and my coffee swayed in the mug as I listened to your bright voice. It wasn’t one of your pop anthems.  You were in an interview with a radio station.  You shared your respect for your mother-in-law, the meaning behind your daughter’s name and compassionately referenced your stepchildren as your own and how you hoped to have even more.  Miles apart and through a dusty minivan radio, you sounded happy, confident and well, awesome.

I mocked myself for feeling inspired by your interview.  I thought about writing you.  Maybe posting to Facebook and telling you how lovely you seemed. But that’s weird, right? Yep, definitely weird. So I went about my week.

The kids were asleep but I was wide-eyed from sipping too much afternoon coffee. I turned on the television.  Out of those blue curtains you emerged to sing a duet with Jimmy Fallon. Curled under the blanket, I sang along to Islands in the Stream.  You did the robot and then every mom’s favorite snapping air dance move.  I watched you and thought:

You are confident.

You are fun.

You are sassy.

You are really awesome.

Life Lessons from Kelly ClarksonSomeone online tried to shame you for your dress size. When you were asked about this person you said, “That’s because she doesn’t know me. I’m awesome.  It doesn’t bother me. It’s a free world. Say what you will.  I’ve just never cared what people think. It’s more if I’m happy and I’m confident and feeling good, that’s always been my thing.”

As I stood half-dressed in the bathroom, my daughter touched my belly that once housed both her and her brother and said, “I like your stripes mom.”  Stripes.  She thought the stretch marks that I saw as an imperfection to be desirable.  “Thank you, they are my mommy marks and remind me of when you were in my belly,” I promptly responded.  “I can’t wait until I’m a mommy and can have stripes,” she said as she left the room.

My worth as a woman and mom is not measured by my dress size. I want my children, family and friends to treasure my creativity, compassion and happiness, because I do.  I won’t complain if they gush about my pot roast, too. I would complain if they found worth in the fact that I fit into a certain size jeans.

We need to love ourselves more.  We need to look at those bellies in the mirror and see our storytelling stripes. We need to dance and air snap, confidently because it really is fun. Kelly, thank you for reminding us about the importance of treasuring confidence, fun and most importantly, being happy. This is how we fill our buckets. As moms we need to build each other up and compliment each other on what really matters, not our dress size.  Thanks for being awesome.

Sincerely,

Alice Seuffert


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Life Lessons from Kelly Clarkson


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This post was written by Alice Seuffert exclusively for BonBon Break Media, LLC.

Alice Seuffert is a Minnesota mom, wife, education researcher and blogger at Dining with Alice where she shares her food and family adventures. She works full-time as an education researcher for a Twin Cities nonprofit organization. On her blog, Dining with Alice she shares her adventures making creative comfort food, experiences as a mom and fun activities like enjoying craft beer. Alice is the Kitchen Star on the Twin Cities television show, Twin Cities Live and is known for her creative comfort food recipes and tips for busy parents.