Miracle Watts' Public Postpartum Woes Is Why Choosing The Right Partner Is Key For Your Mental Health
When it comes to the love story of Tyler Lepley and Miracle Watts, it all started on the set of P-Valley when two costars decided to take a chance on questionable love. Each was in their own relationship (or situationship) at the time, with her being a former IG model-turned-influencer and actress, and he, an actor on two hit TV shows, one being P-Valley, which they each were filming at the time that they met. The pair began dating quietly, and ultimately decided to make their relationship Instagram official in October 2021 when Watts posted a photo of them captioned "6.14.21 🖤"
Since, the two have taken the internet by its Black love reigns, walking the red carpet together for Amazon Prime's New York premiere of Harlem, in which Lepley stars alongside our faves Meagan Good, Grace Byers, Shoniqua Shandai, and Jerrie Johnson. They also welcomed a son in October 2022, Xi Lei Lepley, who he added to his brood of kids with his ex-fiancée, Leo and Jade. Through it all, the couple has pulled at the heartstrings of the culture as they openly show off their admiration for each other.
In fact, that admiration is the perfect example of why it is essential for us to seek a best friend in a partner.
Case in point, Miracle may be in a committed relationship with Lepley, one of the finest men walking this earth, a heartthrob of our generation, and she may be one of the finest women walking this earth desired by some of the most high-profile men in the industry (Drake has shouted her out in songs) -- but even she also has her off-days where she feels a little self-conscious as she adjusts to the postpartum changes of her body.
After noticing that Watts wasn't feeling her best, in a video posted to Instagram, Lepley deems the day "Wifey Appreciation Day," and he speaks life into her as his crying bae visibly struggles with such a common issue amongst women after giving birth.
"Fat where? Hold the fuck up, okay, first of all, today is 'wifey appreciation day,'" he says to a crying Watts. "We're talking about the most beautiful girl in the world," he continues.
His camera was on her as he was showing her off to the world. Tyler literally put our girl on a pedestal and appreciated her as she stood on it. And that's what we love to see, we wish that kind of affirmation from bae for every woman.
Even better, this hasn't been the first time that Lepley has poured into her through his teammate's lens.
He washed and greased her scalp and hair like a pro:
He even dusted the ends, y'all!
He has given her the space to enjoy her first born:
"Thanks everyone, I was so skeptical about Sharing. The positive comments made me feel warm and happy. Thank you all 🖤," she commented.
He regularly pampers her, ensuring she is living her best soft life:
And he makes sure that they enjoy it together too.
He welcomes the shenanigans of her being herself:
Lepley may appear mild-mannered, but he is with the smoke when it comes to his boo. Watts acknowledged just how much in a birthday shout-out on IG, which featured a thread of photos and videos of the couples having a good time enjoying each other (including photos of matching his and her name tattoos).
She frequently returns the love with a heartfelt caption:
"Happy Birthday To The LOML ❤️ I've waited so long for a love like this, I thank God every day for not letting me give up. Thank you for loving me unconditionally, allowing me to be me, & loving me through all of our battles (cause chile we are far from perfect). Thank you for showing me chivalry and courting isn’t dead. Real Love Still Exists, I Love You!!!!"
And most of all, he tells everyone who will listen where he stands:
@r29unbothered Tyler “I needs dat expeditiously” Lepley on how it feels to be loved by a Black woman 🥹 #harlem #harlemonprime #tylerlepley #blacklove
When asked how it feels to be loved by a Black woman, he responded in the best way, ending with "Shout out to my baby, Miracle, I love you baby."
--
Miracle and Tyler are currently busy raising their family and learning and working through the new dynamics of their relationship, which we all know can be difficult with a newborn. But seeing a Black woman being loved openly, passionately, and thoroughly, will always be the content we love to see.
Miracle, you look great, girl! Get it mama!
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Charmin Michelle is a southern native and creative spirit who works as a content marketer and events manager in Chicago. She enjoys traveling, #SummertimeChi, and the journey of mastering womanhood. Connect with her on Instagram @charminmichelle.
Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Why Do Millennials & Gen-Zers Still Feel Like Teenagers? The Pandemic Might Be The Reason.
There’s nothing quite as humbling as navigating adulthood with no instruction manual. Since the turn of the decade, it seems like everything in our society that could go wrong has, inevitably, gone wrong. From the global pandemic, our crippling student debt problem, the loneliness crisis, layoffs, global warming, recession, and not to mention figuring out what to eat for dinner every night. This constant state of uncertainty has many of us wondering, when are the grown-ups coming to fix all of this?
But the catch is, we are the new grown-ups.
As if it happened without our permission, we became the new adults. We are the members of society who are paying taxes, having children, getting married, and keeping our communities afloat, one iced latte at a time. Still, there’s something about doing all these grown-up duties that feel unnaturally grown-up. Enter the #teenagegirlinher20s.
If there’s one hashtag to give you the state of the next cohort of adults, it’s this one. Of the videos that have garnered over 3.9M views, you’ll find a collection of users who are overwhelmed by life’s pressing existential responsibilities, clung to nostalgia, and reminiscent of the days when their mom and dad took care of their insurance plans.
@charlies444ngel no like i cant explain to her why i had to buy multiple tank air dupes from aritzia #teenagegirlinher20s #fyp
The concept of being a 20-something or 30-something teenager is linked to the sentiment of not feeling “grown up enough” to do grown-up things while feeling underprepared and even nihilistic about whether that preparation even matters.
It’s our generation’s version of when we ask our grandmothers how old they are and they simply reply with, “I still feel 45,” all while being every bit of 76 years old. In this, we share a warped concept of time while clinging to a desire for infantilization.
Granted, the pandemic did a number on our concept of time. Many of us who started the pandemic in our early or mid-20s missed out on three fundamental years of socialization, career development, and personal milestones that traditionally help to mark our growth.
Our time to figure out and plan our next steps through fumbling yet active participation was put on pause indefinitely and then resumed provisionally. This in turn has left many of us hanging in the balance of uncertainty as we try to make sense of the disconnect between our minds and bodies in this missing gap of time.
Because we’re all still figuring out what the ramifications of being locked away and frozen in time by a global pandemic will have on us as a society, there really is no “right” way of making up for lost time. Feeling unprepared for any new chapter of life is a natural rite of passage, pandemic or not. However, it’s important to not stay stuck in the last age or period of life that made sense to us because self-growth is the truest evidence of personal progress.
So whether you’re leaning on your inner child, teenager, or 20-something for guidance as you fill the gap between your real age and pandemic age, know that it’s okay to grieve the person you thought you would be and the milestones you thought you’d hit before you ever knew what a pandemic was. If there’s anything that the pandemic taught us, it’s that we have the power to reimagine a better world and life for ourselves. And if we tap into our inner teenager as a compass, we can piece together our next chapter with a fresh outlook.
Sure, we’ve lost a couple of years, but there are still some really amazing ones ahead.
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