Is your baby more fab than you?

I like to think mine is… and I prefer to keep it that way. As much as I will strive to be put-together, hip, happening and cool, my LadyP had better turn out to be more put-together, more hip, more happening and more cool than I could’ve ever made myself. If not, then I believe I’d have gone about this whole FabMom idea all wrong. Making yourself ‘fab’ is fab, but making your child ‘fab’ is a non-negotiable must-do. No matter how high my heels are, I want my little girl to show me up every single time the two of us step out.

Like at Lowe’s Home Improvement:

Or Costco:

You get my point. (In the words of my own little sister aka LadyP’s Auntie: “It’s not where you’re going, but how you look when you get there.” So true. So true.)

At the root of my shenanigans is a deeper goal: I want my kid to be the star of the family… and I’m not talking about ‘working-on-tv’ star quality. I can’t help but remember once listening to a radio interview with actress Jamie Lee Curtis eons ago (waaaaaay before I even knew LadyP’s papa even existed in the world). In the context of this interview Jamie Lee was explaining how her acting work was (at that time) taking a backseat to her daughter’s dance lessons, and how the whole family was rallying around her daughter’s dance competitions (making the costumes & props and helpng her rehearse). She talked about how she didn’t think it was right to make kids rally around the parents’ jobs, and then added “The kids should always be the stars in the family… otherwise, you run into a slew of problems [with self-confidence] later” (or something along those lines). I remember thinking, I’m going to remember that… and it’s stuck with me after all these years. Why? Because it’s true. (To add irony to this whole story, actor Tony Curtis – Jamie Lee’s dad – happened to pass away the day LadyP was born…. talk about full circle.)

I remembered my own childhood: Through all my mom’s leadership activities at church, work and in the community (as well as her stylish wardrobe collection and killer 80’s belts) my sister and I were always the STARS. Never once did we feel like our activities, style or mere existence took a backseat to our mom’s fabulousness. (Afterall, a mom who is dressed and coiffed to the nines but whose daughter is a mess fails to hold any credibility with me.) So, it’s final: No matter how amazing/put-together/fabulous I try to make myself, it doesn’t mean a thing if my mini-me doesn’t show me up. And sometimes, all it takes is a single bow.