The other day I had to drop off my husband at work and woke up my 3 year old daughter .She was in her night dress and since the morning was a little chilly, I just had her put on a jacket over it to keep warm and rushed to the honking car. As soon as I stepped out off the house, she started crying and repeating incoherently “But I am not looking beautiful”. I was startled to hear that (OK truthfully panicked) and my mind went careening into one of those not so knowing but should know mother of child moments. “Why is a three year old girl (for crying out loud) so worried about not looking her best in morning”?
“Does she already know what a painful task is to put on makeup when you are half asleep rushing to be your professional best” or “Am I overly fussing over my looks and not inculcating the right values in her ”? “Did I do that to her”? Oh, My GOD!!!What have I done??Stupid!!! Stupid!! Is this a reflection on me? As I was plagued with doubts and hurling all kinds of recriminations at myself, I realized...Hey Stop!!...I am not that kind of working woman who preen endlessly in front of mirror and looks adorably her best the first thing in morning but that maybe due to the fact because I work from home. But even then, I think ( I know..better…. I think), infact just the opposite.
I am always surprised by how these super woman manage to look their best and rush through hectic mornings (as my mornings tend to be).What time do they get up in morning that they have time to indulge in this leisurely activity (maybe necessity for some) and how do they mix and match and know what looks right in those half awake hours. And certainly, “I don’t have this drawer full of cosmetics” or “Do I?" as I visualized my private space (and by the way just saw shoes). Or “Is it just the "girl thing” being conscious of your look at 3.What do they say about starting young these day? “BUT at 3”.
As I looked doubtfully at my daughter and thought maybe she is not so young any more. In the mean time my daughter had continued to go on and on about her bad looks for last twenty or so minutes. We tried to soothe her down and as any parent worth the salt tried to point out that she looks beautiful whatever the time of day is. I also had to (just had to) throw those motherly wisdom of "beauty is not skin deep" type of statements."You need to be gentle and kind to be beautiful". “You need to brush your teeth (in general cleanliness) to be beautiful”.” You need to be polite (in general good manners) to be beautiful”.
She must have noticed our lack of understanding and digressing away from her "you-not-getting it -at all–the-so-important point" and cried out "NO I AM IN MY NIGHT DRESS ".As the realization dawned on me, I said to my husband , "OH!! She is thinking she is going to school in her night dress”. I concluded with a sigh maybe it’s our fault (it always is by the way) ,appreciating her when she is dressed nicely and looking pretty and never voicing those opinions when she is as messy as possible but still managing to win the first prize in all the beauty contests there is . Well perish those thoughts for now, at least, she is still at that stage where she is thinking beauty is only "dress deep" and I have not managed to spoil her innocence (yet).
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