Look Your Best, Feel Your Best

Here's me, freshly showered, makeup on, and ready for my day!

I promised myself a long time ago that when I became a mother I would not "let myself go" so to speak. I've seen it happen too many times before. Mothers these days seem to think they are wearing some sort of badge of honor if after they have kids, they get to walk around all the time looking like crap! Well I'm here to tell you that this happy homemaker never looks like crap, at least not for very long. :)

Long ago I made a commitment to myself that even if I wasn't able to get anything else done during the day, I would still shower, get dressed, and put on makeup, no matter what! Why? Because it makes me feel happy to know that I took some time for myself. I am not the type of person that can go shopping in pajama pants. I saw a woman like that once. Her child was dressed with combed hair and she was wearing her pajamas, hair uncombed, and her ensemble was completed by a pair of grubby-looking slippers. I'm sorry, but if the image you want to portray to the world is, "I'm a mom and my kids come first, therefore I've stopped caring about myself." then by all means, you keep on shopping in your p.j.s!

However, if you want others to say, "That woman cares enough about her kids to recognize that if she doesn't value herself to allow some 'me time' then she'll be a more stressed out mommy." That's the way I see it and I make time in my day to look my best.

A good friend of mine once asked her husband to prioritize what he wanted to see when he walked in the door after a long work day. She gave him these four things to choose from: A "hot" wife (meaning she had taken the time to shower, fix her hair, and apply makeup), a clean house, happy kids (meaning they were being quiet and occupying themselves), and dinner on the table. She told him to choose which one meant the most to him and then she would try her best to accommodate him. What he said surprised her. He said first and foremost he wanted to have a wife who looked "hot".

I asked my husband the same thing thinking he would choose seeing dinner hot and ready for him on the table. I was just as shocked when he prioritized that last and put me first. So not only does it make me happy to look my best but it makes my man happy too. It's a win/win situation! :)

So how do I accomplish looking my best everyday? I guarantee you my life is just as busy as yours. I have four young children, three who are still at home with me during the day, and one who is a nursing baby. Yes, I am busy! It's really quite simple though. It's important to me and so I make it a priority. I don't start the day off cleaning the house. I've tried that before and while I was able to get the house clean, I found I was never able to get those extra minutes back to take care of myself. Usually I get myself ready during the baby's morning nap or if I have to take my daughter to preschool I shower the night before so I have one less thing to accomplish in the morning.

When I look my best I feel my best which makes me a happier person in general. However, if you don't care how you look then just disregard this whole post and keep on shopping in your pajamas. You just won't see me joining you!