to groom or not to groom

When I decided to step into a full time mom 'career' I took a vow that I would take care of my look and would not fall into the typical too-busy-to-get-dressed-mom kinda thing. I have seen moms fell into this hole when appearance did not seem to matter anymore as long as the kids and husband got their breakfast or good dinner on time.

Back then when I was still working I stayed in a small housing complex area with pretty narrow street. I used to drive slowly because morning time was always busy with kids going out to school. I got to see moms, chatting around outside the house in their night gown, looked messy and I did not think that they have combed their hair either. I wonder what they tried to say to the world or what they were trying to tell their children. Were they trying to say that look was not important anymore once u got married and have kids? Were they trying to say that moms did not deserve a time for themselves anymore?

I remember when I was still in elementary school I used to ask my mom to give her best appearance whenever she was going to my school for any occasion. And I am sure that those moms' kids would have wanted the same too, - to have a well-dressed and groomed mom.

I am very concerned about this situation or, to some people, mind set. Sometimes it is just sort of happened without us being realized. The household jobs are way too much to handle with so little time and no matter how hard we try to cope up with that we often find ourselves caught up, lost somewhere unorganized and nothing is done. Then automatically we reset the schedule flow and put dressing up or combing hair in the very bottom of it.

Of course it actually does not make any sense. There is surely something wrong the schedule, but I think it is not to re-prioritizing but it should be related to time management. The sense of it is actually being displayed in every flights. If we take a time to read the emergency card whenever we travel by flights, it is always said that grown ups or parents should put on the mask first before helping the children. So, I think before we take care of our family we should be able to take care of ourselves first.

I was almost stepping into the situation myself. A wake up call came one afternoon when by chance I saw my self in the bathroom mirror and what I saw was a woman in a messy hair worn off by the daily routines. Everyday was a bad hair day. So I took a scissor and started making fringes, framing my face. It was a crazy 5 minutes moment but luckily my husband liked it. Since then every morning I always try to make a point when my husband gets to see me looking good before he is off for work. There are also nights when I will dress up even though we do not plan to go outside. It is just to make me feel good about myself, and when I do I will feel happy and the happiness will surely affecting the way I deal with my family, the way I handle the kids, husband and the house, - and I mean positive energy.