I had a bad mommy moment the other day. My daughter was playing outside with the other children, and she asked if she could go into one of their houses to play. I said yes, just for ten minutes, as it was almost bed time. Nine minutes later, I put on my shoes to go get her, only to find her crying in front of our house. The older girls had told her that since they were playing with makeup, she should go home.
After calming her down, I began to think about this whole makeup thing. Makeup and preschoolers? My anti-princess sentiments were immediately on alert. However, I am also the mother who helped my daughter dye part of her hair pink with food coloring a couple of weeks back. It washes out. I repeat, it washes out. I was also the little girl who wore no makeup, but at eleven years old I held a freedom of expression crusade at my elementary school when other girls were sent home for wearing makeup. What can I say? I was an early activist and it was the eighties. There was an abundance of makeup around.
I don’t wear makeup except on the very, very odd occasion that I am forced to wear something more than jeans at a special occasion. At my brother’s wedding next year, I might spring for makeup. Once every couple of years suits me just fine. I don’t think that makeup is overly healthy for my skin. In fact, the few times in the past few years that I have tried to wear it, it’s made me terribly itchy.
So will I let my preschool-aged daughter play with makeup? In the interests of exploration, I will likely do so. We’ll get some nontoxic, hypoallergenic makeup and I will let her go at it occasionally, just like I’ll let her turn her hair pink sometimes if she wants to do so. Yes, I know that makeup has connotations of adulthood and princesses and is far too old for a preschooler. But I also think that a little experimentation is not a bad thing. Experiment now and it won’t be the forbidden fruit later. Like me, maybe she’ll crusade for makeup for a while and then leave it be. And after all, it washes off.
Would you let your preschooler play with makeup?