Observations from a Mom's Life

The last few days have been challenging, beauty-wise. Yesterday I decided to take my 21 month old to playgroup and leave our 8 week old behind with the au pair. I am lucky. I have help. But even though I have an amazing French au pair and someone who cleans the house once a week, I can barely keep up with my two girls. Forget about making myself presentable. So we are almost out the door when I remember that I hadn't even washed my face yet that morning. I am standing in the kitchen with the makeup case that I happened to bring downstairs with me, so I glance in the microwave - the only reflective surface around - and proceed to do some damage control. I swipe some hand lotion from the pump by the kitchen sink and use it to tame the frizz from my hair. Then, using the microwave as a mirror, I apply a little concealer to the remains of a massive pimple that appeared last week (the first of its kind in a couple of years - I thought breakouts were behind me), a little powder, and some blush. All without the benefit of an actual mirror. In the car on the way to playgroup, I added some lipstick and a spritz of Flowerbomb, which can make me feel glamorous no matter what the circumstances. Yikes. Not an ideal way to start the day. So last night I resolved to get back on track, and I went on Oprah.com and printed out Dr. Oz's 14-day anti-aging program. I plan to start on Sunday, and I will write about my efforts here. In addition to the program, I intent to take a yoga class once a week, do some exercises with my babies when I can, and make an appointment with the dermatologist for a skin peel. (I had to cancel one when I found out I was pregnant, so it's a long time coming.)

I want to set a good example for my daughters, so I need to take care of myself. I want them to see me as happy, healthy, even a little glamorous, because I know that they will model themselves after me, whether they want to or not. That's why motherhood is the toughest job in the world. Everything, even taking care of yourself, becomes about your children.