My daughter looks cute in everything. Me? Not so much…

Not really my fashion icon, I swear...

You could put Emmy in jogging pants, a stained t-shirt, mismatched socks, and craptastic shoes and she would still be stunningly cute. Sure, go ahead, add a mint green beret and an ascot. ADOoorrRABLE!  What’s that you say? Glasses and a fake mustache?  Sure, add that to the mix, she’ll look even cuter. Even when Em is running a 102 degree temperature, has snot bubbles (so heartbreakingly sweet on a toddler!) erupting from her nose, and berry yogurt smeared across her face, my little girl just rips me to shreds with her cuteness.

Me? Not so much… The amount of effort I have to put into just looking decent these days is discouraging, so I generally default to my normal fashion statement, a la “obviously very busy, very distracted, not-so-rich mommy who doesn’t have time to  put herself together”.  I shouldn’t really use mommyhood as an excuse, especially since BEFORE mommyhood, I could be seen making other equally fabulous fashion statements, such as “early 30’s-ish woman who is thinly disguising her gym clothes as office-appropriate attire” and “scantily clad 20-something who moved from the east coast to L.A. and wants to expose as much of her pale body as possible to the California sun.” Meh. The truth of the matter is, I am just one of those people who truly, deeply admires others who care enough  about their appearance to make it a real priority, but when it comes to me, something always gets in the way, and that little fashionista inside me gets shoved to the back-burner.

Yesterday, as I was dressing Em (in a not-particularly-adorable outfit that she would still make her look  beyond-belief smooshable), I began worrying about the day when, somewhere in the not-so-distant future, Emmy returns from school (pre-school? Kindergarten? Please, lord, push it off until at least first grade) and says “mommy, you need a makeover.” I felt like I should start preparing myself now, taking pre-emptive measures to be a more fashion-forward mama, so that this embarrassing day never arrives.  I vowed to myself to put more effort into my wardrobe, my makeup application, to eat better and maybe wear a side ponytail.  I would pull myself together and make my daughter-of-the-future proud!

This morning, despite the exhaustion of last night’s battle against Emmy’s double-ear infection and the craziness that ensued,  despite feeling my own cold symptoms and crampiness, I still made efforts to make myself more presentable. I showered. I moisturized. I combed my hair and put on a nicer-than-usual outfit…

which Emmy threw up all over 10 minutes later.

Yeah, I’m putting the fashionista on the backburner again. My daughter’s health is the number one priority, and let’s face it, I am a better nurse when I am in jogging pants and a t-shirt.