Letting myself go

Let's face it, I'm no beauty queen. But, I'm fine with the way I look and what God gave me. I thought about that this morning when my oldest asked me to smooth out the cowlick in her hair and then asked if people could shave off their cowlicks. Hmm. I have about four of them in my hair and don't really think about them anymore. I did when I was younger - especially with bangs. Have you ever tried to brush down bangs when you have two cowlicks on either side of your forehead? It's nearly impossible. My daughter is nearly 9 - definitely at an age when you start to be cognizant of your looks and your clothes and your hair. It was easy for me as a kid - throw on a uniform and go to school. I sometimes remembered to brush my teeth and run a comb through my hair. As I got older, I didn't care all that much about my looks. Well, I did, but I cared more about sleep. I would rather roll out of bed at 8 to get to school by 8:15 than be like the girl who woke up at 5 to do her hair every day or to carry makeup to school and touch it up during every class. I'm telling you, lazy girls are the ones who made it cool to wear pajama pants to the mall and those horribly sloppy ponytails. Unfortunately, people do judge you by the way you look. And there is something to be said about the way you present yourself to the world. There is a woman I admire who is always put together. I've never seen her without makeup or her hair neatly coiffed. Sure, she is pretty, but I think a lot of her beauty comes from inside of her. I have another friend who, until yesterday, I had never seen without a ponytail. I almost wanted to tell her to put her hair up! I've never been the kind of person who thinks you have to dress up and wear make up to be attractive to a man. If you don't like the way I look at 3 in the morning, then you don't deserve to look at me when I'm all gussied up either. But, I'm realizing that I should make a little bit of an effort. I swear, if I put on a necklace or change my earrings, my kids think it's a holiday. They have never once seen me wear a high heel. At least I've started putting on makeup to go to work. I don't really accessorize or anything - let's not get too crazy. I'm just not wired that way. I can't be all put together. I don't go into a store to buy an outfit. I buy a shirt. I buy pants. If they match, that's an outfit. My girls the other day were looking at vests and scarves and all of this other stuff and I'm standing in the store wishing I could be anywhere else - wishing I enjoyed the art of creating a fashion masterpiece the way some women do. I would just rather throw on a pair of jeans and be done with it all. I guess this, like many things in the life of a mother with two daughters, is a test. I might not do too well on it - maybe like a C. Can I write a paper on belts and shoes for extra credit?