Pretty Shoes + Pretty Toes + South Beach Diet is Working = Happy Happy Mama

I forsook South Bitch for an evening of revelry last night. Ate some pasta, drank some (ok, a lot) of wine, swore loudly, wore heels, laughed and danced, and had a great time. Who was my date, you ask? Why myself of course. I really enjoy doing things alone. More than before I had billions of baby birds, much much more. The quiet! The fun! The taste of freedom! The making friends and gabbing with complete strangers! The carbs!

Blessed are the husbands who give their wives a break. And, of course, daddies need breaks too.

Amen.

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And since dieting has replaced sex as my new favorite topic, I must add that the cravings are going away slowly. Last night notwithstanding, following South Beach is slowly glacially getting easier. And some of the cravings and longings that led me to last night’s debauch have now been slaked. I’m looking for the higher love, baby. The proteins and the veggies may not be as exciting as carbs, but they are healthier and keep your head on straight.

One of the transitions many women face when they become mothers is the reconfiguration of their self-worth and self-perceptions. Many women, myself included, find the extra fluffiness and juiciness that accompanies mothering young babies and children incompatible with feeling sexy and beautiful.

Many of us who’ve claimed feminism (such as it is) as our red-headed step-child, sometimes have trouble reconciling a desire to feel and look sexy and beautiful, with feminist messages we’ve received about the negative impacts of sexual objectification on women and girls (think eating disorders, rape, incest, sexual abuse).

But I’ve always felt better in lipstick and heels, and I want to be fit and healthy and pretty. Not in a celebrity way, but in a “I am a beautiful woman inside and out” sort of way.

So, what of MILF*? MILF is a heartily politically incorrect word that captures a mother’s desire to be sexy, to be a woman, to be desired.

*originally in the terrible but culturally significant movie “American Pie” and stands for Mother I’d Like to Fuck