Summer is just around the corner, which means bathing suit season is lurking. I admit that I dread the annual unveiling of my body. I feel like a stretch of highway--if it was a particularly harsh winter, I may find a lot of cracks, potholes and bumps come spring.

Every once in a while, you get lucky and can wear last year's suit. But after a baby, that doesn't work so well. And you know what that means: The demoralizing trip to the mall. This outing includes viewing yourself under the harshest of light from every possible angle. I have already completed this humiliating task and I can tell you, it was not pretty. In fact, I am just now to the point where I can talk about it. Even the glare from my pasty white sun-deprived skin wasn't enough to blind me from the obvious: A tankini was not going to cover it. In fact, there isn't a suit on the market today that is going to cover it.

After trying on every one of those specially-made suits that are supposed to slim or perform a miracle on your body, I have determined there is no help out there. Until we go back to the bathing suits of the 1800's, the trick is going to have to be in the beloved bathing suit cover-up. This year, I have chosen a suit that comes with a pair of sheer pants as a cover. The pants are pure genius, yet still not enough. So, I have been practicing. If I can get out of my covering and into the water in less than 3 seconds, nobody will no for certain what they saw. Of course, I also have to get out of the water and get the towel around me just as quickly, but I am confident and motivated. Trust me. Nobody wants to see what I saw in that mirror.