I am what I am

I've come to realize something recently. I'm just not that mom that dresses her little girls in cute outfits with matching shoes and socks and hair done perfectly in braids and bows. It is amazing just how many of those moms are out there. And I'm not knocking it. I wish I was like that. I wish I had that extra little motivation in the morning to brush my girls' hair and find matching purple socks to go with the purple bow. But I am usually really proud of myself if MY hair is done.

My mother-in-law used to subtly ask if I had any ribbons for Mya's hair. "Wouldn't that look so pretty?" She would say. Poor thing. She had no idea who she was talking to. I would say something like, "I didn't know ribbons went in hair."

Mya has been dressing herself since she was 18 months old and around the same age, she started dressing Winter too. And why not? She was like her live baby doll. She's also in charge of picking out clothes for Addie most of the time. Sometimes I just throw on whatever is lying around; usually out of the diaper bag. 

I don't do french braids. I braid Winter's hair about once a month while she's eating breakfast and that's only to keep the hair that falls in her face from getting maple syrup or apple sauce on it. I rarely brush the girls' hair. Mya's is perfect. Always. No brushing needed. And Winter's is usually too tangled to brush and she freaks out when you try to brush it. Hence the short hair cuts. 

I do bathe them so they are clean. And their clothes are clean. I rarely let them wear an outfit twice, especially Winter. She has a talent for getting anything dirty in 5 seconds or less.

I see these little cute babies in the nursery with socks AND shoes AND hair bands around their heads. How in the world?! Last Sunday it took me forever to find a onesie without stains on it AND pants that matched. (Usually Addie sports something like a flower patterned shirt and leopard print pants around the house) When we got to church I had to clean her feet because although she is bathed regularly my floor is not and she gets super dirty crawling all over the place. Oh and add some dog hair and you have a pretty impressive sight. I've learned to change her just as we are headed out the door so she doesn't look too ragamuffinish amongst the cute little babies with the socks and shoes and bows. 

Addie has never worn shoes...or socks for that matter. What's the point? She would definitely take them off. She takes out anything I put in her hair as well. Rubber bands last a few minutes but they come out pretty quickly too so her hair is usually in her eyes. 

Even if I had that stuff for the baby and she didn't remove it in a minute, I doubt it would be where it was supposed to be. The girls would use the socks and shoes on their baby dolls and the hair bows that we do have are all over the house on various pieces of art work, stuffed animals and in bowls of make believe "soup." 

There are moms at preschool that do their daughter's hair really cute on a DAILY basis. We're talking french braids, hair spray and bows that match their dress AND sparkly shoes that aren't scuffed up. We don't have shoes that look new. Even our new shoes don't look new. Actually, I take that back. Every once in a while we come across a new looking shoe. But that's only because we've lost the match and haven't been able to wear them. 

It's good that my girls are cute because it distracts from the fact that they are usually wearing a hand me down dress held together with a safety pin and faded very used pink crocs. 

For years now, I've thought, one of these years, I'm going to start dressing my girls super cute. I'm going to do their hair and they are going to wear dresses that match their shoes and they are going to look like pretty little princesses just like their friends. 

OR I can just accept the fact that I have never been a pretty little princess so why would I be that way with my girls? I refused to wear dresses as a little girl. I hated them. How can you cartwheel or climb a tree in a dress? It made no sense. Dresses were for moms.

(me age 8ish)

It was just not in me. I didn't start wearing make-up until I was in college and have never really put more than about 15 minutes into my appearance. A lot of that is just deciding what to wear. I buy my make-up and clothes at Target while grocery shopping. All my purses, shoes and jewelry used to be my sister's at one point. 

(me age 16ish. anti-princess)

This is me at 24.

And that is what I've looked like since. Jeans. T-shirt. Converse. Ponytail. Although since I started having babies and my size changes like every day, I've discovered that maxi skirts and dresses are really the way to go. They grow with you! But as soon as I'm back to normal, jeans, t-shirts, converse, ponytail it is.

I have a feeling that my girls are not going to be like their mom in this department. They both LOVE dressing up fancy. Winter plays soccer in a sundress and cleats for crying out loud. And I've found them both on multiple occasions putting my make up on...correctly!

But until they are old enough to put the effort in, they are going to look a little more "natural" than their peers. And I'm totally okay with that. They don't care. Why should I?

Why didn't God give me boys?