Miracle Morning

Miracle morning is....

Having your son wake you up with noisy kisses and little cute voice. Unfortunately, AND fortunately at the same time, children are very determined, especially when waking up the parents. Ok, the mom, since Hubby is also an early riser. It means, Michael will open the curtain and let the bright rays of morning sunshine burst through the windows and explode in our bedroom. No more snoozing for sleepyhead Mommy. Let's wake up and embrace the day the Lord has given us!

On rare occasions that I managed to wake up earlier than Michael, I would be lucky to watch this live cartoon of father and son. It always makes my heart warm to see the loving relationship between these two!

Yep, Michael loves to play with his Dad. Even still half asleep.

And yep, I am a blessed wife and mom.

Ah, the miracle of a morning shower! Refreshing, energizing, invigorating morning shower! How blessed we are to live in an age where we can have clean, delicious, life-giving water, just with a turn of a knob. Especially to start the day sooo delightfully with moisturizing, sweet-scented cake of soap that comes in pretty packaging such as this one! Pure mommy bliss! What a luxury!

 

Wake up and make up! These are some objects that I deliberately place next to the beauty station where I get ready everyday. A father and son snail ceramic doll from my husband. Silly looking but meaningful to us. A hamburger shaped stuffed key chain that Michael got as a prize at school, which he gave to me as a present. And a colorful paper craft project that Michael made at school. He gave it to Mommy, since "I know you like girly stuff like this". Every morning, while putting on my make up, I would look at these cheerful objects, given with love by the men in my life, and smile. 

Thank you, Lord, for my loved ones, who love me very much. Thank you, Lord, for loving me.

Then off we go to start the day! The sky is the color of periwinkle, all over the city, people are bustling about to do their business. 

And I remember a line of a poem I once read of Robert Browning, 

"God is in Heaven. All's well with the world."

Sunday Market Momiform

One time I read a blog post titled "A Dapper Mom" about a mother who wore jeans, a nice T-shirt, a statement necklace, and a leopard-print flats to a children's birthday party, and she felt overdressed because other moms wore shorts and oversized T-shirts. And she said, "It took me five minutes to wear these ensemble, and I'm sure it also took them the same amount of time to wear what they wear, but at least I look like I'm making an effort." Btw, she did write that she didn't wear any makeup, just a dash of pink lipstick, because she didn't have time to put on full makeup. BUT the pink lipstick made a whole lot of difference.

I don't mean to be judgemental here, but I agree with her. After becoming a mother, I dress much simpler, with less frills and accessories. I don't change bags everyday like I used to. I avoid complicated style like special layering that needs a lots of tucking in. I no longer wear stockings everyday. BUT I DO care on the image I project to the world. So does my husband.

So I chose to be smarter about dressing up. I choose simpler lines now. I choose comfortable clothes. I choose momiforms that will look good on me and are comfortable to wear and take very little time and energy to put on in the morning. Instead of frumpy ensembles, I choose cute pairs like this pink T-shirt and skirt with rose prints on it. The secret to its comfy factor? The skirt has elastic waistband, making it a breeze to put on and off, very very quickly.

Another tool of trade? Extra comfy flat with thick rubber soles with rose on them. Very cute, very comfy, very casual, and they look very good. 

I don't care to look like Posh Spice, VIctoria Beckham. I admire her style, but there's no way I will trade the comfy factor with stiletto heels after trans-Atlantic flights like she usually does. She inspires me to make an effort not to look like "I'm a mom and I let myself go"; but I don't need to reach for her perfection. I mean, looking ultra-groomed is her job, and she makes millions doing it. Not me!

Anyway, one Sunday we went to a wet market, to buy some fish, fresh ground gourmet coffee for Hubby, and some other fresh produce for the family. And this mom proudly and comfortably rocked this real-life, real-mom momiform!