This morning my daughter climbed onto the toilet so that she could reach into the cabinet that hangs above it. The cabinet that contains things that she’s not allowed to play with—like deodorant, hair gel and one bottle of pink nail polish that I bought 2 years ago and have used maybe twice.
As I was about to swoop her in my arms to rescue her from all of the things that could possibly result in a phone call to poison control, she made sure to grab the bottle of nail polish.
“I need polish, mom.”
Not “I WANT polish, mom.” Or “I sure would LIKE some polish, mom.”
No.
I NEED polish.
Neeeeeeeed iiiiiiiiiiiit.
Her nails needed to be clipped, so I told her I’d paint her nails, but only after I clipped her nails. She agreed because she nee-eee-eeeeeeded pink polish.
As we walked over to the kitchen table, I stopped and ran back to (not) my bedroom to grab the camera. I had to capture this moment for all eternity. She had on a white tutu, with pink pj pants underneath and a pink shirt with little puppies on the front. She was wearing her purple “tap tap” shoes, her face covered with pink eye shadow and silver eyeliner. (Yes, I own silver eyeliner.)
Sadly, the batteries were dead and I wasn’t able to take a picture. Man, I would have loved for you to see her in all her Girlie Glory.
As I was clipping her tiny little nails, I wondered where she’d learned such girly behavior. She certainly did not learn it from me. I used to be, back "in the day", but 3 kids and unemployment has turned me into THAT mom. You know, the one who stays in her pj's until noon and has gone to the grocery store wearing yesterday's clothes because she didn't feel like "taking a shower and getting ready because Oh! The energy that requires!" I rarely paint my nails: In fact, I think I’ve painted them twice in the past 2 year, once for a wedding, once for BlogHer. (And I’m not even sure that I painted them for BlogHer. But I’m pretty sure I did, because I remember thinking I would go get a manicure, but then I called Amalah and was all “are you going to get yer nails did?” and she was all “Um, no.” And so I decided to just “do them ma’self.” Just checked Flickr and sadly, yes, I did paint my nails myself and um, well, I don’t think that I should ever do that again.)
As I begin to paint her nails, I almost started to cry because Oh My God, I have a daughter who loves for me to paint her nails with pink nail polish.
She looked at my finger nails and said “Mom, you need to paint a’yer nails too!”
“No, sweetie, mommy doesn’t like to paint her nails.”
That really freaked her out. Her voice got all high pitched and desperate sounding.
“Yes, Mom, you need to paint a’yer nails! PLEASE MOM! PAINT THEM!”
You know, I think she’s right. I do need to start painting my nails and while I’m at it, I need to start getting pedicures because I’m pretty sure cracked heels and in grown toe nails aren’t ever going to be “in style” and you know what else? Maybe I should start getting my eyebrows threaded again, and taking care of my skin again and while I’m at it maybe I’ll get ma’ pachina Brazilian Waxed, y’all!
(No I won’t, I will NEVER get a brazilian wax because DID YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO GET ON ALL FOURS? I have a hard enough time doing that for PigHunter these days and he’s seen all of THAT for going on 18 years now. No thank you, no amount of smoothness in the world would ever make me Do The Dog for a stranger.)
I know it sounds silly, but my daughter pointing out that I neeeeeeeded to paint my nails has made me realize that I really do need to start taking better care of myself and pampering myself a little the way that I used to do.
I felt so much better about myself when I would take the time to go get a manicure, or spend a few extra minutes in the bathroom after a shower to lather myself in some sweet smelling body butter while wearing a mud mask on my face.
Now, I feel like I’m splurging if I wash my face with a bar of Dial soap before I go to bed.
I’ll never be that kind of girl who wears toe rings around her beautifully painted toe nails, or who has perfectly manicured nails at all times, but I wouldn’t mind being that girl who takes a few extra minutes out of each day to take care of her skin and pamper herself with a manicure and perfectly shaped threaded eyebrows from time to time.







That is so sweet. Yes Y, you NEEEEEED to pamper yourself!