Decorating Mummy




With my boys I have always wondered if it’s all about dinosaurs, monster trucks, cars and rough play. Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to see their softer side. It wasn’t as if they were at their gentle best, but certainly more kind to me than they have been to each other lately.

My older son had recently finished his first term and was spending his week-long break at home, mostly getting bored with not much to do. At the spur of the moment, whilst getting ready, I decided to let them do my make up. It seemed like a brave decision for a moment, but I took the plunge thinking I wouldn’t be going out of the house anyway. I immediately thought It must be rather gutsy of parents in the UK who willingly entrust themselves to their kids to dress them up on the ‘Dressed by The Kids' day. So, here I was, ready to play dolly to my under-5’s, as they got super excited to decorate me to their liking.

My older one took the initiative very well as he spread big lumps of face cream on my face. After about two fistfuls of it, I had to say no. Actually, I said, “Thank you. Let’s move on to the next please”. He was quite convinced of a job well done as evident from some half a dozen exited steps he took towards the drawer to fetch my lipstick. My little one was done with being a mere spectator of the live painting fun his older brother had been having and was keen to make a mark, quite literally. I have been doing colours with him and he made good use of his knowledge as he decidedly chose the stark pink lip colour from my kit. Clearly, he was looking to paint a bright picture. He fiddled with the mechanism before successfully popping out my lipstick from its holder.

Next, it was time to go for the kill. He went for my lower lip and lavishly heaped layers of it on and around my mouth. It was almost half a dozen applications worth of pinkness on me. It was amusing to see how confident and proud he felt of himself. I think it felt like the first school paint art in which I didn’t get a ‘D’. I was in the midst of enjoying all the silly fun when my older son snatched the lipstick and began applying it in my upper lip. It was sudden and strong, almost pushing me over to a side. Of course, it killed my lipstick as well. Although, it wouldn’t be the last smudged item in my make-up kit.

Obviously, we were not done yet. What started as a fun activity turned out to be another version of rough play. It was ‘The boys’ v/s ‘Mummy and her cosmetics’. The lipstick was followed by the blusher. Turns were taken to rub them onto the cheeks. It must have felt funny; they started applying it on each other. I was shown the little mirror in the blusher kit to check if it looked ok. Well, there was no saying no to a bunch of excited boys using my precious things as weapons. However, seeing them happy and proud did offset any little offence I might have taken.

They proceeded to fetch a ‘bindi’, a decorative sticker normally used by women in India to adorn their foreheads. True to the unsaid rule of ‘the more sparkly, the better’, they planted a bright, red, crystal-embedded bindi on my forehead. It felt slightly misplaced from the start but I didn’t worry too much by now. They finally decided to brush my hair. Luckily, my toddler son chose the one with thicker teeth. And very diligently, he started doing top to bottom. I was surprised by how gentle it had got by now.


Decorating mummy had become more about exhibiting their prowess at ‘gentle hands’ than a show of strength and mutual competition. The objective was to make me look pretty. Such selflessness over natural mischief was remarkable. Perhaps, it was a lesson well and quickly learnt although it was intended to be a fun exercise.

Finally, they planted a clutch, barely hanging onto my hair, and asked me to go and look in the bigger mirror. I dared to, with mixed feelings of dread, curiosity and excitement. I am pleased to say I wasn’t as shocked as I had expected to be. Although it looked like someone who had woken up from a hangover of a fancy dress party, it was my boys’ hard work. They told me, “You look beautiful, mummy”. Naturally, the material bits didn’t matter anymore. My boys were wriggling with the expectation of a great feedback. Most deservedly, it came in the form of thank you hugs and heaps of appreciation. Without any expectation or planning, it turned out to be a great bonding expertise for us. And, of course, another gem in our treasure box of memories.

2 comments:


  1. Love this one!!would love to see the post make up pic ..love to the boys!!😆😊☺😘

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  2. Thanks for liking it. Gentle reminder - Be careful what you with for :)
    Although kind ion regretting why I didn't click one...

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