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"&amp;quot;Can you imagine that there are some women who do this once a month?&amp;quot; said one woman. &amp;quot;How great that would be,&amp;quot; said another. &amp;quot;I loved when he touched my hands and feet. I wanted him to spend more time there,&amp;quot; said the third friend. &amp;quot;You know, you can tell him what you want,&amp;quot; said the first. The scene: a steam room at a spa, where I&amp;#039;d gone yesterday to finally use the gift certificate Steve had given me for my birthday 10 months ago. I wasn&amp;#039;t the only mother there who had taken part of the day to pamper herself, and, like these women, I was wondering what it would be like to be able to afford massage on a regular basis. Heaven? Aside from the state of relaxation, there are other proven benefits of massage \u2014 it can help with everything from boosting immunity to lowering blood pressure. But alas, I won&amp;#039;t be one of those getting massages every month, as it&amp;#039;s not in my budget. Yet there are other, less expensive, ways of practicing self-care that were brought home to me this weekend. On Saturday, one of Max&amp;#039;s friends had a birthday party, and I&amp;#039;d stayed to help out. I also indulged in kid-party fare: potato chips (barbeque and salt and pepper); chocolate birthday cake and vanilla ice-cream. Another mother, one who&amp;#039;d gone from a size 16 to a size 8 this past year, dropped her daughter off and spent the time walking the 3.9 miles of a nearby lake. Who made the better choice? The answer is obvious, and yet, I thought, &amp;quot;Why didn&amp;#039;t I think of doing that?&amp;quot; I&amp;#039;m too old and not too wise when it comes to taking better care of myself and my body. It&amp;#039;s a lesson, it seems, I have to learn over and over again. Fortunately, it&amp;#039;s never too late to start over again. Is this a lesson that comes naturally to you, reader? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/a43031/choices-7943/?src=shelter_footer>