Glamming It Up – The Good and Bad

I had my first fitting for DWTS today and I must admit I felt like a princess. It’s rare to get a gig where you can play dress up every show!  I have been thinking about that message and what it sends to my daughters…
 
Rain has grown up seeing mommy in the make-up chair a LOT, much of which is spent with her on my lap. She is obsessed with make-up.  I am trying to make sure she knows it is just for play, it’s fun, and glamorous. What I do NOT want is for my girls to grow up thinking they need it, and not know how beautiful being natural can be. They are so impressionable right now, and I’m watching my 3 yr old mimic many things I do.  In fact, every lip-gloss of mine that she sees, she asks to have and has started a fabulous collection of her own in HER bathroom drawer. I am down to only one, but at least I know where to find them! The good news is that my girls see me on most days in my sweats, hair in a ponytail and without a stitch of make-up.  Hopefully they know the difference between life and TV. 

I was never a girly girl growing up and I never saw my mom fussing much over herself.  My children are exposed to a very different life.  David and I are constantly on them about staying grounded and we try to keep life at home as down to earth as possible.
 
Then they visit me at the studio and see mommy glammed up to the max for DWTS!!! What a contrast. For me it’s every girl’s dream. For my girls, I have to be very careful. 
 
I hosted a Barbie party on the beach this weekend. Here is a shot of Rain doing her thing at the make-up/glitter counter.

 
As long as they know its fantasy, and it’s just for fun, I’m ok with it.  We were celebrating the launch of Barbie’s latest movie “A Mermaid Tale”. The “real life” mermaid fascinated even Shaya, although I had to steer him away from his sisters and the makeup counter.  Many of my nieces and girlfriends were there.  It was a gorgeous day on the beach, and it brought me back to my childhood. Watching the excitement from the little girls as they got glamorized, reminded me of myself and the transformation I go though every time I step in front of the camera.  It is much like playing dress up, especially this season for DWTS.
 
But, I see young girls all around me growing up too fast.  Not wearing age appropriate clothes, wearing too much make-up, and not looking much like themselves at all.  I really want my girls to stay little girls as long as they can, and to know what beauty is.  To know that it runs deep and it starts there.