Dying to be beautiful

We're approaching the two-year anniversary of Kanye West's mom's tragic death following a cosmetic procedure, and another mother is now in the news for dying after liposuction. She leaves behind three children.

We all know that this youth-obsessed culture is hard on women, but it's especially hard on moms. Celeb moms are slimming down to their post-pregnancy bodies in record time, donning bathing suits and lingerie almost immediately after giving birth. (Where are all of your stretch marks? Loose skin? How did you get those abs back?) The thin and beautiful Courtney Cox is whining about her aging body on ABC's Cougar Town. Oh, and every mother is now compared to MILF standards.

Yet here in the real world, mothers are the ones with the least amount of time and the least amount of sleep. I obviously think there's a place for beauty in a mom's life, but only to boost our confidence and self-esteem -- not to cave into societal pressures. And now children are losing their mothers because of this hype. How much are you willing to risk for a toned tummy?

Children don't care if you have thin thighs and perky breasts. They want someone to kiss their boo-boo, share advice, help plan their wedding. They want a mother, in any shape or size. You know what's beautiful to them? The woman who plays peek-a-boo, the woman who drives them to soccer and basketball and dance, the woman who bakes homemade cookies on their first day of school.

I wish more mothers would celebrate the feat their bodies have gone through and embrace a healthy concept of beauty. My heart goes out to the children who have to bury their mothers, and to the mothers who will miss their child's next birthday, graduation, first grandchild. How many lives have to be lost to ignite change? Will this pressure ever go away?