Good grief: Explaining tummy tucks to kids

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Many books are written to introduce children to difficult new circumstances in their family’s life -- when a parent is diagnosed with cancer, for instance, or when some incident reveals prejudice and intolerance. But do we really need a book that explains why mommy needs a tummy tuck? At boingboing.net, David Pescovitz posts an item about the new book ‘My Beautiful Mommy.’

One popular type of cosmetic surgery -- breast augmentation -- isn’t addressed directly in the book. (I guess they figure their target audience, kids ages 4 to 7, won’t be able to handle that, right?) It is, however, included indirectly, according to a Newsweek article about the book and its author, Dr. Michael Alexander Salzhauer, a Florida plastic surgeon.

Salzhauer doesn’t focus on the cosmetic surgeries that arise from terrible accidents. The aim here is to show youngsters why mommy doesn’t fit into her jeans anymore and how the doctor will help. It’s also intended, according to the Newsweek piece, to help children psychologically when they see their mothers recuperating from surgery. When’s the book coming out? That’s right -- you guessed it: next month, just in time for Mother’s Day.

All I can say is, if this book becomes a bestseller, I may throw my hat into the publishing ring with a pet project I’ve kept on a back burner: ‘Daddy and the Magic Hairplugs.’ Stay tuned.

Nick Owchar