No make-up for you!

Do you see this face? To me, it's the most beautiful, perfect face in the whole wide world. I know I have a certain bias here, but I don't think I am the only one to notice the cuteness. Everywhere we go, I hear "those eyes!' and "those curls!" Her hazel eyes (framed by long, thick lashes) and over-the-top curls are show-stoppers, for sure.

My baby wants to put make-up on this face. The other day, I stopped at Ulta to pick up some eyeliner and whatnot. I had some birthday money from my grandma and decided to buy something for myself before it got sucked up by a bill or something. While the kid and I were in the store, she started lobbying for some lip gloss. I don't have a problem with her wearing lip gloss. My main beef is that she already has lip gloss and chap stick stashed in various nooks and crannies in her bedroom. I mean, the child has one mouth and a hundred tubes of lip gloss. Sometimes, for some extra fun, she leaves them in her pockets so that I can wash them. "Pick out a cheaper one and I'll get it for you," I said. I wasn't about to spend ten bucks on something that will just get sucked into the abyss.

"When can I wear make-up?" she asked.

I thought for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe a little make-up in sixth grade?"  She will be in middle school then so I figured that would be okay. I don't really see a need for make-up in elementary school.

"Sixth grade! But, Mo-om!" she exclaimed, as if I had said, "When you are 73."

Then she gave me a speech about how ALL FIFTH GRADERS WEAR MAKE-UP and that she even knows a first grader who is allowed to wear make-up. (I mean, are embryos wearing eyeliner now? Just exactly how early does this start?) My daughter is in fourth grade. She told me that a friend of hers is allowed to wear eye shadow AND blush. Visions of a ten-year-old version of Tammy Faye Bakker jumped into my head. Noooo!

I suspect that it is probably true that things start to change a bit in fifth grade. The girls are all keenly aware that the following year, they will be in a new school. They want to feel more grown-up.  I took the kid rollerskating a few weeks ago and noticed that indeed, the fifth grade girls wore make-up. But still, I plan to fight it.  I started wearing make-up in seventh grade (when I started middle school) and let me just admit here and now that I did not wear it well. Frankly, I cringe at photos taken of me in high school and beyond. Now, I do get occasional compliments on my eye make-up so I guess I managed to pick up some skill along the way . . . but it was three decades in the making. 

I don't know, mes amis. I worry that how I react to my daughter now will have a lasting impact on how she feels about herself as an adult. I wear make-up, so it's a little hypocritical for me to tell her she can't wear it (ever). But she's so pretty just like she is!  And how come her father does not have to deal with this stuff???

When I told him about the make-up debate he said, "What?! She can't get her shit together in the morning as it is!"  True dat.