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Az has her own makeup box, a necessity to keep her out of my own makeup while she watches me get ready in the morning. Most of her makeup is of the wooden variety, with an occasional chap stick thrown in, but it seems like as more time goes by she is accumulating more and more of the contents of my own makeup bags. She demands makeup throughout the day and more often than not my response is, "You don't need makeup. You're beautiful without it," but of course my words do nothing to assuage her desire. I wish my two-year-old weren't already so interested in makeup, I hate all of the messages the media sends to little girls, but I know that the message I send her (almost) every morning as I apply makeup myself is sending an even stronger message. I want her to know that she doesn't need to wear lip gloss to feel pretty, but I'm not willing to skip mascara in the mornings to teach her the lesson.

There are responsibilities that come with having a daughter that I haven't had to address with my son. I'm just thrilled when he remembers to brush his hair before leaving the house before school. I don't know yet how I'll deal with all of the girl-related issues. I've asked Miguel a few times about when he thinks he'll let Az start to wear makeup, and in what order but he hasn't thought much on the subject. When I was a little girl I wasn't even allowed to wear red nail polish so in junior high I rebelled by wearing bright pinks. Nowadays red polish is pretty darn tame. Who knows what cosmetics will consist of in a decade's time? I guess it will be one of the many things we take as it comes. Right now Az wants to wear makeup because she sees me do it, and because it's fun to get painted up; it has nothing to do with wanting to improve her looks. Maybe there's some magic way of instilling her with self-esteem so that this will always hold true.