Make up

Grade four is an interesting place to be, I find that it is a transitional year and the children of this age are much more mature than what I was at age 9-10 (and I was old for my age lol).  That being said, fitting in is getting more and more difficult for Kiya.  She has her own group of friends she hangs around with, as well as some older kids and some younger kids.  She fits in most circles and can find interesting topics to talk about or new games to play.

So with the hormones running through her body and her self image becoming more apparent she has asked for a couple "girl things" lately.  I am not a fan of children wearing make up who feel they need it to look beautiful.  I always tell my girls that make up is supposed to highlight what you already have, and both of you are absolutely beautiful.  Well I guess they have discovered the "well you are my mom, you are supposed to say that" saying because there are some days that they don't feel as pretty as they are, but then again what woman feels pretty everyday?

So I bent the rules just enough to make Kiya happy and yet still respect what mommy is trying to accomplish.  We went on a shopping trip and picked up some eye shadow and lipstick to play with.  I gave Kiya $10 and she had to budget.  Make up is not cheap but I wanted to give her a little bit of freedom to make her own choices.  So we looked up colours for her eye colour and skin tone and off we went to Sally beauty supply. 

Kiya picked up a couple of colours of their Sally Girl line and she was ecstatic.  That is when I dropped the rules on her. 

1. You cannot wear the make up to school.  If you do, it is instantly in the garbage and we won't be talking about make up for a very long time.

2. Sharing make up is forbidden.  Now because this is play make up I gave her permission to share with her sister on occasion when she wanted to see what the colour would look like.  But friends are off limits period.  Again, in the garbage if rule is broken.

3. When friends and family come over the make up is to be put away somewhere safe so that no one shares it.  This is more a safety precaution for it not to get ruined or shared, because too many germs and bugs are in make up and I would hate to see something happen. 

So though I bent the rules slightly, I think Kiya has a good grasp as to why I said no make up in the first place.  She is growing up fast and I know some of you will disagree with me on this and I can respect that.  I have to balance the good with the bad, and as long as she follows the rules I am still in control and she can still be a little girl as well. But in all honesty who can't remember wanting to dress up in mommy's make up and pretending they are older. Maybe I just got tired of sharing lol.