Black sweatpants, black t-shirt, sneakers, hair up in a bun, dark glasses, zero make-up. That was me over the weekend, fidgeting silently in a corner, trying to make myself invisible as I watched my daughter play a state tennis competition.
On weekends, I’m all about tennis. Tennis moms can’t be too flashy, too enthusiastic or too loud; other tennis moms don’t like that and your kids don’t like it either.
Life as a juggling mom with a full career is not easy!
“Mami, cállate!” my daughter hissed when I shouted a particularly loud ¨¡Vamos!” That took the wind out of my sails, and chastened, I resorted to pumping my fist silently.
But two days later, it was a whole other story as I got ready to be interviewed on an MTV-produced special on Colombian rocker Juanes. “The backdrop is black and grey,” the producer emailed me, “so don’t wear anything in those colors.”
“Well, yay,” I thought, thinking about my black-clad weekend. Most importantly, I asked,
“Is there hair and make-up?”
There’s a BIG difference between going to these things “camera-ready”—meaning you did your own hair and make-up, or having a stylist on set. MTV had a stylist. Her name was Teresa. She applied my foundation with an air-brush that erased all pores from my skin. She pasted fake eyelashes (love those!) and she curled my hair, vs. blowing it out.
“It will look cute,” she assured me. I loved it. And, for an entire hour I TALKED, un-hushed. I sat in my chair —great lighting, my purple top contrasting beautifully against that gray backdrop— and answered questions. By day’s-end the foundation was off and I was back in my sweat pants, but my eyelashes and hair were still in place.
“Estás linda, mami.” My daughter complimented me when she got home that evening.
I smiled.
Sometimes, you can have it both ways.
What do you find most challenging about juggling your life as a mom an your life at work?
