Mommywood Meets Real World

Note from Jenelle: As many of you know, I am returning full-time to Mapel this month, which I am super excited about. Although being back in the shop is exciting, it's also a big transition being a working mom. Especially given the fact that my partner in crime, Staci, is headed to Ireland for a much-needed, well-deserved, vacation. To help lighten the load, I've asked my sister, Joy, to be our guest blogger this month. Enjoy!

(Posted by Joy Thomas)

Being a mom is not an easy job, even for Tori Spelling. Granted, I"m no Tori Spelling raising children in Hollywood. I'm more of what you'd call a "real world" mom (i.e. I have to work to live in a normal-sized house, not a mansion), but after reading Tori's latest, Mommywood, I can relate to her as a mom (minus the paparazzi, personal live-in baby nurse, and housekeeper). I want the best of both worlds just like "T" (after reading her book, I consider us friends-- no BEST friends). I want this Leave-it-to-Beaver time at home with my daughter, in which we read, play, and visit parks all day. Yet I also have goals and drams of my own and want to help my family out financially by being part of the work force part time. So what could be better than a hodgepodge of different jobs, mostly done from home so I can work AND play with Lucy all day? Or what could be worse?

These days it doesn't seem to be enough to just be a mom or just be a career mom with kids in daycare; no, we want it all. What does this have to do with fashion, you may be asking. Honestly, not that much I am not the fashion guru Tori is (although I do happen to be wearing a super-cute LA Made top from Mapel that accentuates my newly-pregnant belly). Considering the rapid baby boom that the dwindling economy has brought on, my guess is that most of the people reading this blog are either moms or someday-in-the-near-future moms.

As a mom, you deal with fashion every single day, though it's usually not your own clothes you're thinking about. For example, my 3-year-old daughter, Lucy, recently received a hand-me-down long, white satin flower girl dress that her older friend had worn in a wedding. It is sleeveless and has little satin flowers scattered all over it with a large bow in the back-- perfect for playing dress-up. Only she doesn't want to wear it just for dress-up; she wants to wear it everywhere everyday. A few days ago she decided to pair it with her "hello kitty" rain boots on a 60-degree sunny, autumn day, complete with pink princess umbrella and all. Discontent to simply wear this ensemble around the house or at the park across the street, she had to wear this to the bank, to the grocery store, and of course to the doctor's office. Fortunately, she's cute and young enough to pull off non-seasonal, inappropriate-occassioned outfits.

It's interesting how even at her young age she and her peers are so aware of clothing. I saw an example of this yesterday as I sat in her ballet class, multi-tasking on the phone (case in point: I can't just sit and watch her dance-- I feel the need to "get things done" all the time). Even though I was busily texting, I overheard a couple of the girls saying they liked Lucy's "hello kitty" ballet outfit, and then when Lucy stood up out of turn, they tattled to the teacher, "Hello Kitty is standing up Miss Miriam!". Something tells me that she may forever be known as "Hello Kitty" in ballet class. Something also tells me that Tori's daughter would be sporting some fancy,famously-designed ballet outfit, not a hello kitty one from Target. She also probably would not be in ballet class at the YMCA.... ahem.

At the end of each day, when it's all said and done, however, I think we all really want the same thing as moms-- mommywood and real-world style alike. Whether accompanying children in outfits that would outrage the hosts of "What Not to Wear", multi-tasking at ballet class, or juggling work and playtime at home, we want to show our children they are loved. Tori sums up the heart of a mom nicely: "I worry about my kids when they're sleeping; I try to get them to eat the right foods; I hope they're having fun as they start to make sense of the world; I want them to make friends, to grow, to thrive, to love and be loved."