Guilty Pleasures

Guilty Pleasures… we’re all guilty of them, but we don’t always like to own up to them.

Atticus is sleeping soundly in the nursery for his morning nap, and I’ve just cued up the The Bachelorette Men Tell All special. I’ll be the first to admit it is far from quality programming, but sometimes we all need a little mindless television to lighten our load as wives and mothers.

Reflecting on my own guilty pleasures piqued my interest about the guilty pleasures many women indulge in. After a little Google research, I’ve compiled a list of the guilty pleasures I share with other women. After reading this, I’m curious if you’ll own up to any of your own guilty pleasures too and share them in the Comments.

• Shamelessly watching reality TV: Undoubtedly my biggest guilty pleasure is watching The Bachelorette. I haven’t avidly watched the show from the very beginning but instead happened upon the series by accident. In 2011, one of my mom’s closest friends started chemotherapy at MD Anderson. That summer, I visited her at least once a week to check in, bring dinner over, and spend time with her. She loved watching The Bachelorette, and I quickly became a follower as we watched it and looked forward to the drama that would unfold the following week. Ninfa had always been a close family friend of my mom’s but that summer she became one of my closest friends too. Since that inaugural summer, I continued to watch the show because it proved to be a great talking point between the two of us that took the pressure off of talking about the uninvited guest in our friendship- cancer. This season is the first season I couldn’t text her to ask her what she thought about the show because we lost her just before the season finale last summer. I feel far less shame watching this show even now because it still brings a smile to my face when I look back fondly on our time together. 
• Reading trashy gossip magazines: In my single days, I loved indulging in gossip magazines like US Weekly and In Touch. Oftentimes one of these magazines was an impulse buy added to the conveyor belt in the grocery store check out line. Because of time, it’s a rarity for me to purchase them anymore. I reserve reading these for airplane travel. Now time only allows for scanning the cover at H-E-B when I’m shopping kids free. While this type of reading is far from substantive, it’s easy to get caught up in the catchy headlines and high fashion clothes.  
• Dancing like no one is watching: Most nights while I’m cooking dinner, it’s a dance party in our living room. I have Spotify on one of my favorite Latin playlists and dance around the kitchen as Atticus finds his rhythm in the bouncer and Liam runs around enjoying the beats. Undoubtedly for me this summer, no song made me happier to hear than Luis Fonsi’s Despacito. This song was a meal prep staple daily for at least a month. If finally reached a point where Liam would sigh and say, “Not this song again. It’s boring!”
  

  
• Reading unrealistic fantasy novels: Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. Even since Atticus joined the family, I still make time to enjoy novels on Kindle. Lately I can’t get enough of crime fiction but I’ve had my moments of closet reading unrealistic fantasy novels. But really though, is it that unrealistic to have a billionaire boyfriend with his own helicopter and a playroom?

Guilty pleasures could be classified as personal vulnerabilities, but they’re definitely not ones we need to beat ourselves up about. Pour that glass of wine and unapologetically  enjoy your favorite reality tv show or trashy magazine as you sip and savor it all!