The (sexy) perks of fatherhood

Seeing Drew Brees share a moment with his adorable son after winning the Superbowl made me briefly ponder a new category of award for this blog: "Men Who Are Actually Sexier Once They Become Parents."  But then it struck me that I had stumbled onto a universal truth: ALL men are sexier once they become fathers. 

(There are actually a handful of exceptions to this truth.  Levi Johnston is an outstanding example.  While he is young and handsome, he strikes me as an uncommitted, fairly irresponsible father.  So his appeal is actually decreased by offspring.)

This should be very reassuring for men like my husband, who regularly bemoans the terrible toll his two offspring have taken on his youthful good looks. 

Yes, my beloved now has a generous sprinkling of white in his formerly all-black hair.  (There is also a notable decline in quantity of said hair.  But I would never dwell on that.)  His laugh lines have indeed deepened.  His middle has broadened somewhat.  And sometimes, after spending an entire weekend day entertaining the kids, he looks a tad haggard.

But he's also undeniably more attractive than he was before I married him and partook of his genetic material.  And not just to me, I firmly believe.  I catch more women than ever doing a double-take.  And when he is out with the kids, it's almost as if female bystanders cannot help themselves!  They strike up conversation on the flimsiest pretext; offer unsolicited help with my children; even brazenly flirt.

And I find myself having the same inexplicable reaction to other men with their kids, too.  There is something so achingly sweet, so powerfully engaging, about a man in the role of father. 

As gratifying as it is to have garnered my own special porn designation ("Milf." If you don't know what it means, ask any 14 year old boy.) ... it does strike me that the appeal of women is not universally enhanced by motherhood. 

Another biologically-driven double standard. 

Men demonstrate their virility and wham-o: We find them even more attractive.  Women bear a child and mwah-mwah: Overnight we enter the un-sexiest club in the world.