Friday, July 10, 2009

Mommy Makeover - Only in America?

A common phrase I hear from my American friends is 'Only in America!'

This is normally used to express incredulation at something they read in the news - like the John Wayne commemorative toilet seat, or reading about a man trying to drill holes in his wall with a .45 semi-automatic (only to accidentally 'drill' holes in his wife, in the other room.)

America is often blamed for being home to the bizarre - quite unfairly in some cases. But one interesting phenomenom that definitely originated from the West side of the Atlantic is the new fad of the 'Mommy Makeover.'

The 'Mommy Makeover' refers to a new mother getting plastic surgery - and having to explain her sudden change in appearence to her children. One day, Mummy's got a 'muffin top' and a crooked nose, the next day she arrives home in bandages with a brand new nose and a trim new tummy.

A sudden change in 'Mommy's' appearance can be quite traumatic for youngsters - so enterprising American Michael Alexander Salzhauer (a top Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon) wrote a book to help explain the process to kids.

The result was My Beautiful Mommy, from Bit Tent Books, which dumbs down the process of plastic surgery into something kids can understand. How successful the book's been is subjective - but incredulous Europeans (myself included) have definitely slotted the book into 'curious events' filed under 'only in America.'

But if you ever go in for beverly hills liposuction and are worried about how you kids will respond, it's certainly a unique way of explaining it to them!

2 comments:

Suki said...

The naturalist in me finds this puke-worthy. Jeez!

Expat mum said...

I don't know. Sometimes I think I could dye my hair black and no one would notice!