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Welcome to The Smart Mom Manual. I'm Winnie Yu, mom blogger at CompletelyYou.com. My daughters, Samantha and Annie, are 14 and 12. Like most moms, I'm still trying to perfect the balancing act that we all know as motherhood in the modern world. Please don't hesitate to write to me as you read my blog. You can also tweet me @Completely_You. I look forward to hearing from you!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Awaken Your Inner Diva


By Winnie Yu for Completely You




When you’re a mom, it’s easy to let yourself go, to slip into a pair of high-waist jeans, throw on a sweatshirt and be on your way. After all, that’s what moms do -- especially if we don’t need to get dressed up for work.

But sometimes it’s fun to awaken the inner diva, the one that lurks inside most women. She’s the one your husband may have first met, the one who used to go out dancing with the gal pals. She’s the one who went to fabulous parties, nightclubs and fancy dinners before life was filled with kid parties, wholesale food clubs and crockpot dinners.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to recall my more glamorous days -- trust me, they were short-lived, and frankly, not that glamorous -- when I was asked to model in a fundraising fashion show for a local community and school foundation. It was the second year in a row that I’d done it, and I welcomed the opportunity to break free from my daily existence to become someone different. Totally different.

For those few hours, it was all about me. My hair. My makeup. My clothes. A hair and makeup artist who once worked in Hollywood spent almost an hour turning my hair into a spiky do and pinning an equally spiky hairpiece onto the back of my head. Then he decorated my face with more makeup than I wear in a month.

Walking the catwalk is not something I do every day, as you might imagine. But soon, there I was, strutting, pivoting and posing in a pair of impossibly high silver heels. I only had a minute to do a complete change between each of the three outfits I wore, going from an elegant Escada two-piece dress reminiscent of Jackie O to a floor-length evening dress to a casual blazer and sweater over suede pants. (It was considerably tamer than the leather dress and black boots I wore the year before.)

“What did you think?” I asked my daughters as they studied my makeup and dress.

“That was not you,” Annie said sternly.

And then the ball was over. I gave back the hairpiece, the dress and the silver heels. I slipped back into my jeans and got into my car. Cinderella was heading home, and the glamour was gone.

Practically speaking, it isn’t easy to free your inner diva. After all, where do you wear 3-inch heels these days? And who has the time to put on all that makeup or to style her hair? Still, it’s fun to release that playful spirit that hibernates within most of us moms, to take the time to take a long shower, to really style our hair even if we’re just headed out to the supermarket and to indulge in a special outfit for no real reason except we like it. It reminds us of what we were before we became mothers and wives, chauffeurs and cooks. And it helps us remember that beneath all the responsibilities we shoulder lies a joyful soul that still sometimes wants to come out and play.


What are your favorite ways to release your inner diva? Share below or tweet me @Completely_You
For more great health and lifestyle info, visit the parent site of my blog,
Completely You

Winnie Yu is Completely You’s mom blogger. She has two daughters and is the author of seven books, including New Mother’s Guide to Breastfeeding and What to Eat for What Ails You. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Woman’s Day, AARP Bulletin, Prevention and WebMD.

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