just showing up: What I Wore Wednesday (and the pressure to look good)

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

What I Wore Wednesday (and the pressure to look good)

Well, another week has come and gone, and I'm linking up with Lindsey again for What I Wore Wednesday!

I have to say that, um, knowing I was going to do this post resulted in me getting dressed more than I would have otherwise. (But not to worry, I still spent two days in comfy clothes!) AND, I find I am much more motivated to do the things I need to do (like homeschooling and housework and errands) when I've gotten out of my pjs. Go figure! :)

WIWW aside, I feel pressure as a mom-to-many to look somewhat decent when I leave the house with my kids. I'm not sure if that's an inherently bad (or good?) thing. But I find that people expect me to look tired...frazzled...and miserable. Because surely someone in my position must really, really hate their life. (No, I'm not being neurotic--I've had all sorts of people tell me I'm brave, "better you than me!", "your house must be a zoo", "you don't LOOK like you have seven kids" etc.)

So I feel like I have to show people that even though I do have multitudes o' children, I wear makeup and don't live in stained pajamas (most of the time.) Do other moms feel this way? Do moms who have one or two children feel the pressure too, or is it only moms to many? Granted, I wore makeup and liked to shop pre-kids so it's not as if I've changed per se.

But I'm much more likely to throw my hair back in a ponytail and go out in my comfies if I'm going without my children. If a kid's involved, you can be sure I get ready for the day and put effort into my appearance. Weird!

Anyhow, here is my photo-documentation of the past week, along with what we did each day. And I'll let you know about our consult with the heart surgeon tomorrow. (My two daughters just home from Ethiopia, who were born with Down syndrome, are both having heart surgery soon. You can read a little bit about that here.)