Self Love

She peers down with squinty eyes at her weighing scale. She adjusts her pre-breakfast body—she tilts her love handles to the left, then to the right, so that the weight displayed in numbers that appears on the electronic screen will put her in a good mood. The magical number that will let her cook, clean, and teach math to her kindergarten class while floating on a fluffy, white cloud all day.

She grimaces and steps down, arms crossed across her chest, shoulders hunched. Four pounds above her normal weight since the holiday season ended. She groans as she thinks of all the celebrations still to come. Valentine’s Day, Holi, St. Patrick’s Day, Baisakhi, school graduations. At this rate, she won’t be able to fit into her size eight dresses this season or the next.