This morning, my 4 year old daughter snuggled with me on the couch. She took one look at my belly, full of stretch marks and asked, wistfully: "How did you get all those diamonds?" I choked up, hugged her, and said that those marks came from carrying all those babies in my belly. It stretched and stretched and stretched, to encompass all those that I love.

I remember being surprised when the marks first appeared. I remember being told that I should try to look skinny and not baggy. I remember being surprised that I got more with the next child. I remember being told by my GI, at the end of my treatment, that I might want to do something about them, moving to Houston and swimming pools and all. I also remember making total peace with them. Keeping tzniut (dressing modestly) means that I do not need to expose myself to the world. I do not need to hyperventilate about how I look in bikini.

What I did not realize was that I had a belly crisscrossed with treasure. In my daughter's eyes, I am covered with diamonds.

I hope and pray that 4 yo maintains this outlook, that she will not buy into external beauty peddled by pop culture. I want to bottle up her current attitude and douse her in it when she hits her teen years. I want to shield her from shallow comments on how she looks good, and what she has to do to herself to look good. I want her to FEEL good, because that feeling shows. There is no diet for that, there is no exercise, and there is no guilt.