Parenthood Stories From The Edge - excerpt 1

September 29, 10:04 PMBaby and Toddler ExaminerDarby Herrington

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                             [Source]

Within every day of motherhood, a lesson is learned.  Today's lesson: be careful of the seemlingly cute mother-daughter moment that turns into a future expensive mess.

Moms with daughters, let's talk about make-up.  My three year-old daughter watches with great interest as I apply eyeshadow and mascara.  I can see the little wheel inside her brain turning as she carefully takes notes on how to apply blush.  She politely observes and then asks the question, "Mama, can I put on some make-up?  Pleeeeeeaaaasse?" 

Oh, dear.  I know right away that there is a fine line to be walked here.  On the one hand, this is a special moment that my daughter and I can share.  I remember watching my own mother put on her make-up and admiring the whole process.  She would brush a little color on my cheeks and my heart would skip a beat as I stood on my tiptoes to beam in the mirror.  Now, here is my little girl looking up to me the same way. 

On the other hand, I want my daughter to be independent and self-confident.  I want her to feel like she is beautiful without needing to decorate her face.  She is far too young to be putting an emphasis on her appearance.  The trick is to make the moment playful and to teach her that Mama uses make-up because it is fun. 

We have a fantastic time applying make-up on each other.  My heart swells with happiness to see my little girl trying to be like me.  She squeals with delight as I apply shiny lip gloss and lightly swab pink eyeshadow on her eyelids.  She can hardly contain her excitement with each stroke of the brush.  It is a wonderful mother-daughter moment to remember.

Days later, the moment seems a whole lot less adorable when I walk into my bedroom to find that my daughter has dumped an entire bottle of mineral powder foundation all over my beige carpet.  As she looks up at me with her big, powdery eyes, I realize she is also painting her toenails.  My heart drops into my shoes when I see red nail polish drying on the carpet.  The worst part is, she is enormously proud of her solo make-up application.  She exclaims, "look Mama, I'm pretty like you!" 

There is no way I can be angry at that.  She is just a little girl.  Even better, she is a little girl who wants to be like her mother.  I remind myself how lucky I really am.  So I take a deep breath, give her a huge hug and kiss and tell her how beautiful she is.  All the while I am adding up the dollars it will cost to have my carpet cleaned.  

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