This was on the door at the ballet pictures. The sign is great. That it's necessary to create and order and have it printed in bulk is a bit alarming, don't ya think?
I went to get tickets for Lucy's ballet recital while she was in ballet class, and noticed that on the bulletin board was a memo I'd had emailed to me but half-ass read. And there it was: Ballet 1A hair instructions. I knew that part. That's the half of the ass part I'd already read. Underneath that, however, was something I'd embedded in my brain that was optional. It turns out it was not:
Makeup instructions: pink blush (Okay that's doable), pink eyeshadow (a little much but I can swing it) with brown in the crease (Okay, they are seven right? And I can't do the brown in the crease for my own face.), black or brown mascara (WHAT!?), bright red lipstick. (Sorry - no.) The song Send in the Clowns blares through my head.
I polled the moms.
I explained to Lucy and told her that she didn't have to wear the make-up if she didn't want to. I explained how pretty she was in her own perfect porcelain skin. She wanted to wear the make-up, and what was mascara? She wasn't sure about it. I told her we'd do a test run and see.
If she was to continue dance, I'd probably balk at all this setting a consistent tone for "Mommy all the other girls are doing it" arguments. But just knowing her attitude about it all - "We're doing this ONCE, y'all. We're gonna kick it's ass!" I can handle it. The make up argument isn't worth the fight.
So we thought we'd let her have this make up experience once. Okay, twice: once for the pictures, once for the recital.
I decided to get her own mascara. And then, per the instructions, of course I didn't have the required eye shadow. And I was going to have to find a nice rose lipstick, because my Mary Kay Downtown Brown was not going to work. And I was not going to put on the assigned red lipstick either. I'd just have to find a good shade for her.
The other problem is, well, I barely know how to put on make up on my own face. And I'm guessing the pros out there would agree - make-up is not my forte. "Step away from the child, we'll handle this." No one came in and said that - wait - there WAS a professional make-up application you could pay someone to put her make-up on her. But if I'm paying for a make over, it's for ME. So Lucy, bless her heart, just let me put her make up on.
It wasn't too bad until we did the eye shadow. Why did I need to put brown eye shadow in her crease again? Too much. Even Lucy said so. And then I used my blush, which looks very pink and cute on me. However, she has lighter skin. And she's SEVEN. And with the mascara, the 30 year-old eye make-up scheme, and the rose-ish lipstick, well, she looked a little bit like one of those Toddlers In Tiara's commercials I roll my eyes at and think, "What were their mom's thinking?" Oh God, that's me. Dangit.
By the time we'd gotten all the make-up done, there was no time to erase and start over, and we headed to the pictures. We opted to not use the brown and suffer potential chastising and consequences. I had her tone down the lipstick by blotting most of it off and putting a light pink shimmering gloss on. It seemed to help a bit. No one said a word about no brown in the creases. So that's good.
The picture day was a mad house of mini adult supermodels running around in their tutus. Some of the kids didn't wear make up. What!? That was an option!? None of those moms mentioned that when I polled them!
I was really concerned Lucy was going to love this make-up thing. She frolicked and acclimated into the mirror check and fixing the lipstick and then playing tag gig with the other girls.
They got their picture taken, we got in the car and she sighed heavily and then said, "Mom, can I have the wipies? I want this make-up off NOW."
Turns out she hated it. And little Miss Lesson in Self-Confidence says, "This stuff does NOT make me feel pretty." And then, "When is our next track practice, Mom?"
I know Lucy needed to do the make-up to fit in and to fill the void of curiosity. And she to learned this one on her own. She taught me a few things about beauty too.
That's how I roll.
Song of the day: Melody of You - by Sixpence None The Richer
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