Makeup, Clothes and Quality Time

I slip on my dress and then a pair of high heels.  I check my face in the mirror one last time.  My daughter walks into the bathroom and looks up at me, “What are you putting on your face mommy?”  I have a flashback of seeing my own mother performing these rituals in front of the mirror.  I see her getting ready before church, making sure her makeup was just right and her dress fit just so.

I smile at my daughter and tell her I’m almost done and doesn’t she look beautiful in her pretty dress.  I hand her my Chapstick and let her slide some on her lips.  She likes to put it on herself but can’t be trusted to keep the tube so I take it back from her.  I tell her she’s all done and we’re finally ready.  Together we walk down the stairs.

When I was a little girl my sister and I would go into my mother’s closet and pull out her high heels and dresses and long nightgowns and we would play Princess and Queen.  She had the best stuff for playing dress up.  We knew better than to get into her makeup but we would stare admiringly at all the different tubes and containers.  I would read the names of the lipsticks and blushes.  It was all so fascinating.

I love being a mommy.  I love the admiring glances I get from my little girl when I put on a special outfit, a sparkly blouse or gold heels.  I remember doing the same with my mom.  It is a special moment for me.  It brings back memories that I hope will mean something to my daughter someday.  It’s the little things in life that stick in our minds.  It is a scent, a color of lipstick, a rainbow heel that meant my mom was going somewhere special.

I know there are other more important things in life, but these things mean that I was there watching my mom, that my little girl is by my side watching me.  I like sharing these moments with her.  I like pretending to brush her face with powder as she giggles.  I like when she steps into my high heels and says, “Mommy, look at me.”  She’s so proud of being a big girl.  I like that I get to do these things with my daughter just the way my mom did with me.  It’s just makeup and clothes but it’s also memories and time spent together.