How a Class of Beauty-Loving 5-Year-Olds Taught Me to Live in the Moment
Main image – Adobe
Welcome to Blasts From My Beauty Past, our monthly column written by journalist, and Live That Glow Beauty Editor, Philippa Pearne. For the last 17 years, Philippa has written about her own beauty wins, fails and everything in between. Today, she’s looking back on how meeting a class of beauty-enamoured children taught her how to live in the moment.
As a mum of two young kids, doing what I can to add a bit of extra excitement to their day/week/month is important to me. Day-to-day life can be boring, routines are mundane, and the school run is tedious. So if there’s something I can do to switch it up for them, even just a little, I try to do it, and I am fortunate in my job to be able to do so.
One of these opportunities cropped up recently when my five-year-old daughter’s teacher offered parents of her class the chance to be ‘Secret Storyteller’. The idea was that once a week, the children would be told that someone ‘special’ was coming in to read them their end-of-day story, but not who it would be.
I was happily offered a slot one Thursday and as I walked into the room full of excited, inquisitive five-year-olds, I felt strangely nervous. I don’t know how teachers do it. All I had to do was read a few words from a book and even that was terrifying.
The first child I clocked eyes with as I walked in was my daughter and her face lit up when she realised today’s Secret Storyteller was me. I sat on the chair at the front and 30 faces stared up at me while I read them my daughter’s favourite book – Angelina Ballerina – and then I prepared myself to get up and go when I was done.
But I wasn’t expecting what happened next. The teacher was busying herself at the back of the classroom, getting everything tidied up from the day, unaware that I had finished. And no one ushered me out. So I stayed put.
“Right then,” I thought, awkwardly waving (again) at my daughter who, by now, was probably willing me to either leave or take charge of the situation. I chose the latter and did my best teacher’s impression. “Does anyone have any questions?” A little girl at the front shuffled up to me, took my hand and said, “Who did your nails?”
Image – Sonjalekovic/Stocksy
I had obviously failed at making Angelina’s journey to becoming a professional ballerina sound anything but dull. But on the plus side, my nails were a hit. They had been painted a bright coral at my local salon the day before and it hadn’t dawned on me that they, of all things, would be today’s talking point.
Next, another little girl joined in and started stroking my hand. “I love the colour,” she said, and another piped up, “I like your eyelashes.” Ok, these kids were all officially coming home with me.
We chatted about nails and makeup and their favourite colours – the boys joined in too – and it did make me realise that us grown-ups take small joys for granted.
The idea that I was ‘allowed’ to go and get my nails done and choose the exact colour I wanted and the fact that I was wearing makeup seemed to blow their mind. These were not small joys to them.
I remember feeling the same about grown-ups when I was little. “How lucky they are to be able to do what they like,” I used to think, which of course entailed spending all their money on sweets and watching TV all day.
I also remember purposely feeling my mum’s smooth, freshly painted nails as I held her hand crossing the road and watched in awe as she applied her lipstick in the car’s rear-view mirror. She would come home from the shops and eat a whole chocolate biscuit without asking anyone, and she would spritz herself in perfume whenever she felt like it.
I knew all this because I would watch her do it whenever I was off sick from school. My mum’s wonderful second life. And what a life of freedom it was! After all, to kids, being an adult is doing all the fun stuff you’re never allowed to do when you’re little.
But what I didn’t take any notice of was all the work my mum did, all the bills she had to pay, all the insecurities she probably felt and all the meals she needed to plan.
Because, let’s face it, that’s what being an adult is really like. Getting sh*t done with the odd nail appointment squeezed in if you’re lucky, applying lipstick to make yourself feel better from all the sleep deprivation, eating a chocolate biscuit as long as the guilt about your ‘mum tum’ allows it and spraying perfume to hide the fact that you haven’t had time to shower for 24 hours. (Full disclosure: I only speak from personal experience, not my mum’s.)
Image – Lightfieldstudios/Adobe
So, let me get this straight. As a child, you’re mesmerised and envious of grown-ups because of their freedom. But most grown-ups long for the days of carefree childhoods, when someone would pay for all their stuff, tell them what to wear, magically present them with a plate of food and arrange what time they needed to be somewhere.
I guess it’s true what they say – the grass is always greener on the other side.
Unfortunately, us adults can’t often find joy in little things like applying makeup and getting our hair or nails done, because it usually comes with a side of guilt. There are always more important things to be doing and the joy of putting ourselves first via the power of a simple manicure appointment is masked by an overriding feeling of selfishness.
What I loved about my daughter’s friends was their innocence. The assumption is that adults live this life of floating on clouds and hanging out at sweet shops when their kids are at school. Eating unlimited lollipops, spending their morning perfecting their makeup and deliberating for hours over which colour to paint their nails next. No stress, no responsibilities, just freedom.
I used to think that’s exactly what grown-ups did when I was a kid. How poignant then that, as time goes on, we start to realise that our adolescent selves were the lucky ones all along. No stress, no responsibilities. Just freedom.
But let’s not leave it there, because being grown up does have its perks. Perhaps though, this is just your sign to appreciate the little things. Those little moments in time when you can dedicate time to yourself amongst the chaos.
Choose a pretty eyeshadow, spend time styling your hair for longer, apply a pampering face mask. It’s not selfish, it’s self-care. And it’s probably all your five-year-old self could have ever dreamed of.
Get Glowing!
