Mommy’s little makeup monster

One day last year my daughter smuggled some lipstick into school with her.

When I picked her up that day she had proudly smeared half of the tube in the general vicinity of her lips. My kindergartener looked like a less glamorous version of The Joker, Batman’s arch-nemesis, known for his painted face.

Not exactly a look appropriate for a six-year-old.

And now every morning I have to frisk her for contraband before I drop her off at school, but that’s a story for another day.

On that day I realized something.

My child’s love of makeup was on par with mine.

And I love me some make-up.

So that day I decided that since she loved her makeup enough to smuggle it to school and apply in secret- in the dark and without a mirror- then I would darn well teach her what is an appropriate amount of make-up and how to apply it.

I’ve gotten some flak from other mothers about this.

“She’s too young for make-up,” they’ve said.

“She’ll look like a baby beauty queen,” others have said.

And one particularly pleasant woman whispered behind my back, “I can’t believe she let’s her daughter do that!”

First let me be clear, I don’t allow Caitlin to wear make-up to school, unless it’s a little lip-gloss.

But when it’s not a school day and my baby wants to wear make-up, then by all means I will glam her up.

And why wouldn’t I?

It makes her happy, and I would rather teach her the right way to apply it while she’s young, than have her suffer through her teenage years without having a clue and resistant to all my motherly advice.

And as the child of a mother who fully embraces her inner drag queen and puts on ALL the make-up she owns whenever possible, Caitlin never had a chance at resisting the siren song of NARS blush or Lancôme mascara or Kat Von D eyeliner.

But the most important reason I indulge my daughter’s love of make-up is that it makes her happy.

Spending time with me while I teach her the finer points of lip liner application or how to get the perfect cat-eye; that mother and daughter bonding time is irreplaceable for both of us.

And to see how excited she is when she sees the final result, and when she whispers to her reflection in the mirror, “I look so pretty”; that just makes me melt.

I will do whatever I can in my power to ensure that my daughter feels beautiful and confident and strong every day of my life.

And if make-up is what makes her feel those all those things, then yes I will happily teach her how to apply it and allow her to wear it, regardless of how her age.