Last year when my 2 daughters performed in their ballet school’s year-end concert to raise funds for Multiple Myeloma research, I had to teach them how to remove their makeup properly. Sometime after that, I overheard the older one muttering to her siblings, “How on earth does she even know things like that?!”
I laughed.
All dolled up
Child, I used to wear a full face of make-up and dressed up every day to go to work in the public relations and then advertising industry. I had to look presentable. And dolled up.
Handling public relations in a fashion-related company meant that a major part of my job included meeting up with and coordinating photo shoots and fashion shows. That meant lots of opportunities to watch make-up artists and fashion stylists at work. And learn that appearance was everything in that world. Sad, but true.
Public Performances
And yes, a long time ago, I also performed regularly under the guidance of Sylvia McCully. After all, that was how I met my husband. So I know all about the adrenaline rush of being on stage and the long rehearsal hours. In other words, you can’t pull a fast one on me!
Do your children really know you?
But her comment got me thinking – my children don’t really know me. They forget that I had a life before I became their mother. They only know me as Mama, seeing me interact with people as their mom.
Yes, I have told them what I used to do and all that. Yet it isn’t real to them, I suppose what I say remain mere stories in their minds. So, when they see me talk and interact with others as … well, not their mom, but as a person, they find it disconcerting. They find it weird too, that I know certain things and behave in a different manner compared to how I behave with them.
Well, child, I can’t go around telling people what to do and what not to do, like how I am with you, right? 😉
As another aside, the children are often thrilled when they find out that the stories we tell them of our past, are true! Recently, one child discovered that it is true that daddy really did perform in the very first season of Dick Lee’s Beauty World. Yes, daddy had mentioned it before but it apparently only became true when he saw daddy’s name in a library book on Singapore plays!
Kids!
RELATED POSTS
What Legacy Are You Leaving Behind?
Who Are You???
Updated 5th August 2017