I Don't Want to Look Like a Mom | Christina Valhouli

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ugg boots | ugg boots | uggs outlet Edition: U.S. CA Canada DE Deutschland ES España FR France IT Italia JP 日本 (Japan) MG Maghreb UK United Kingdom US United States Follow FRONT PAGE Healthy Living Here's Why Your Favorite Foods Are So Hard To Resist 312 9 Reasons To Quit Smoking You Haven't Heard 201 How Her 21st Birthday Inspired Alexandra To Lose 174 Pounds How Some Of The World's Most Successful People Discovered Their Spiritual Side The Planks You Should Be Doing (But Probably Aren't) 20 Go to Healthy Living More in Healthy Living GPS for the Soul Health And Fitness Health News Becoming Fearless Sleep You might also like Food Post 50 Taste Religion OWN Teen The Ultimate Way To Win Over Your Bio Teacher Moving 'Roar' Cover Will Have You In Tears (VIDEO) The Scary Drug That's Finding Its Way Into Teen Pop Culture 11 The 'Open House' You Wish Your Parents Were Going To Taylor Swift's Thoughtful Love Advice From Ed Sheeran Go to Teen More in Teen Back To School 2012: Our Election College Prep Fun Stuff Mission: Accepted You might also like College Education Comedy Arts Sports Women What Barbie Would Look Like Without Her Makeup 142 How To Be A Woman, According To Amy And Tina 48 What Slate Got So Wrong About College Women And Sexual Assault 215 If You Don't Relate, Then You're Lucky 11 LOOK: Proof Betty Ford Was A Total Badass 15 Go to Women More in Women Love & Sex Career & Money Women's Health You might also like Style Weddings Divorce Parents Healthy Living Black Voices Latino Voices Divorce The Type Of Voice That Women Find Irresistible 350 This Autocorrect Fail Is Every Kid's Worst Nightmare 56 You're More Attractive If... 459 How Self-Growth Can Wreck a Marriage 64 10 Love Lessons Worth Passing On To Your Kids Go to Divorce More in Divorce Celebrity Divorce Parenting Dating Divorce Laws Divorce Stats Divorce Advice You might also like Healthy Living Travel Women Recipes Fifty 10 Places To Retire Comfortably On Less Than $75 A Day 103 THIS Will Make You Feel 5 Years Older In Just 5 Minutes 15 Unconventional Ways To De-Stress Right Now 82-Year-Old Student Crowned Homecoming Queen Study Aims To Show Singing In Choirs Is Good For Seniors 10 Go to Fifty More in Fifty Reinvention Retirement Parenting Post50 Health Post50 Love Post50 You might also like Parents GPS for the Soul Women Money Healthy Living Education Superintendent: How Did Shooter Get Past Metal Detectors? 5.1k Bill Gates: Education Should Be America's Top Concern 526 Students Write On Sandpaper Until Fingers Bleed, Teacher On Leave 625 Parents, Students Upset Over Teacher's Violent Test Questions 957 Schools' Realistic Shooting Drills 'Kind Of Scary,' Parents Say 27 Go to Education More in Education Education Reform Teachers Bullying Ed-Lection 2012 You might also like College Teen Impact Parents Healthy Living Taste 11 Reasons Why You Should Drink Coffee Every Day 337 Someone Invented A Reverse Microwave And We Want It 93 The Best Maruchan Ramen Flavors, In Order 153 Watch Out, Reese's 38 QUIZ: Craft Brewery Or Indie Band? 28 Go to Taste More in Taste Recipes Baking Entertaining Healthy Eating Taste Tests Thanksgiving You might also like Food Healthy Living Travel OWN Arts 9 Striking Portraits That Will Change The Way You View Breast Cancer Survivors 300 White Women With Black Hairstyles Redefine Corporate America 358 29 Picasso Artworks Hit The Bidding Block At The Same Time The Most Breathtaking Photos From Around The World This Week This Bluegrass Cover Of Lorde's 'Royals' Is Everything Go to Arts More in Arts Painting Film Design Photography Theater Architecture You might also like Books New York Los Angeles Home WATCH: Pumpkin Carving Hacks You Need To Know 112 The Most Expensive Zip Codes In The Country Are... 39 We Didn't Expect This From The Romneys 24 Objects In This Photo May Be (Way) Smaller Than They Appear PHOTOS: We Didn't Expect This From A 'Mad Men' Star 13 Go to Home More in Home House Tours Cleaning Design Entertaining Real Estate Celebrity Homes You might also like Style Food Healthy Living Arts LIVE Now Ex Etiquette Next The CEO Wage Gap Coming Up Former Death Row Inmate Anthony Graves Coming Up Legalese It! with @MikeSacksHP Coming Up Christmas Creep! 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I would not let my kids rot their brains with TV, I would never let them eat at McDonald's and I would never, ever let myself look like a mom. cheap uggs for women Fast forward five years and two kids later and guess which one of those rules I've broken? The television is on more than I would like to admit (but I turn it to Sprout !) and my newly revised rule on McDonald's is that I will take them there if and when they ask for it, as I don't want my kids to be the only ones in class who have never eaten a Happy Meal. ugg boots uggs outlet store As for looking like a mom? It's something I fight against every day and sometimes I feel like it's a losing battle. cheap uggs Let me preface all of this by saying I am very blessed to have a happy and healthy family, which is the most important thing in the world. My children don't care one bit what I look like, but I do. And I don't want to look like a mom. kids ugg boots So what exactly do I mean by "looking like a mom"? Everyone knows what a mom looks like and you can pick them out of a room full of strangers. Having children hanging off you and carrying a diaper bag is a dead give away, of course. But sometimes the biggest signs are crimes against fashion, thanks to mom jeans (brilliantly depicted by Tina Fey) and my personal pet peeve, mom hair -- the hum drum, practical chin length bob that fans out at the bottom like a Darth Vader helmet. Or worse, Kate Gosselin hair. ugg boots Of course it's really hard not to look like you're a mom when you are one. Yes, I may be a suburban, station wagon driving mom but I don't want to necessarily look like one. And it's doubly hard, if like me, you are mostly a stay-at-home mom. You're going to get dirty and you don't want to dress up so much that you can't get down on the grass and play with your kids. Your children will cover your clothes in spit up, butter, markers, poop, goldfish, and glue. Nearly all of my shirts have dried milk stains and silvery trails of God-knows-what by 9:00 a.m. Sometimes I dream of wearing a crisp white shirt, and having it remain crisp and white all day long. I have no idea how women who have to dress nicely for work leave the house looking pristine. Actually I do; my working mom friends tell me they put on their work clothes at the last minute and dash for the door, shrieking "don't touch me!" I used to think this was cruel and unusual punishment -- don't you want that last minute, adorable hug from your toddler? -- but now I realize there is a certain practicality to it. If you have to appear in court by 9:00 a.m., you will break a running world-record eluding a jammy toast-wielding toddler who is coming for you. On the few occasions that I do leave the house dressed nicely, I blow air kisses and sprint for the door. But, I have no reason to buy a suit. I work from home, as a writer, where I don't have to impress anyone with what I look like. So I make rules for myself. I will not shop at Target for myself, because there is something demoralizing about buying your clothes at the same place where you buy toilet paper and Tide. I refused to buy a tankini from Lands' End -- because really, what is the point of a tankini? I will not work in sweat pants, even if the only person I interact with all day is the Starbucks barista. I refuse to even own sweat pants or a sweat shirt, or anything with a visible Old Navy logo. Yoga pants are acceptable -- they don't scream "sloppy" the way sweatpants do, and they suggest health and flexibility, even if I haven't set foot in a gym in years. I try to brush my hair and apply lipstick, which is occasionally done at a traffic light. My car's cup holder contains a melted but recongealed and still usable tinted lip balm, which is handy for touch ups. My husband howls at the amount I spend on haircuts and color but he has no idea how bad I would look if I went au natural. Last year I was introduced to the great suburban invention of the school car line. It's like drive through Dunkin Donuts for your kids. You don't even have to get out of the car to drop them off, and no one can see what you're wearing. It's genius -- but doesn't exactly encourage any kind of personal style. While I never actually drove my kids to school in pajamas, I've come close. But I don't want to be that mom. So, I try. But generally fail. Consider outerwear. Have you ever tried to balance an umbrella and push a stroller at the same time? No? That's because it's impossible. You have to suck it up and wear a raincoat. If I had more time, I'd scour the Internet and shops for something fashionable. But I don't have time, which is why I end up wearing an ugly but practical raincoat that makes me look like a member of a mountain rescue team. Take my shoes. Like many moms, over the years my shoes have been reduced to three types: Birkenstocks in the summer, Converse in spring and fall, and Uggs in the winter. Looking at my shoe rack, it is definitely more of a "before" than an "after" fashion shot, because all my nice shoes are tucked away and only appear for nights out and weddings. But I try to up my game and pull it together. I have left a pair of nice, delicate strappy sandals by my front door, in the hope that I might actually wear them. I know that whatever I am wearing would look infinitely better with chic sandals rather than Birkenstocks. So I decide I might put them on. But in between yelling at everyone to hurry up because we'll be late, wrestling a baby who is trying to launch himself down the stairs and gathering up backpacks, water bottles and snacks and locking the door behind me, I don't have a spare set of hands or five extra seconds to reach down and fasten the straps on my sandals. So, on go the Birks and another day passes where my feet don't look fashionable. But I keep the sandals by the front door, and pledge to try again tomorrow. Follow Christina Valhouli on *******: www.*******.com/cvalhouli FOLLOW PARENTS Like 118k Subscribe Comments 1 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ Previewing Your Comment. This comment has not yet been posted You have exceeded your word limit by words. Please click the "Edit" button and shorten your comment. Post Comment Edit Cancel uggs boots on sale discount uggs