This post was sponsored by AVEENO® through their partnership with POPSUGAR. While I was compensated to write a post about AVEENO®, all opinions are my own.
Becoming a mom taught me that there are a TON of reasons to be self-conscious or second guess myself. It has also taught me that there are far more important things to focus on. What I never could have expected was that having a baby (or two) which is essentially like sending your mind and body to war would be the thing that would make me the most accepting of my imperfections.
First and most obvious on the outside, I have dark under eye circles. They’re hereditary and they’ve been there for as long as I can remember. Whether Blake sleeps though the night or is up every hour, they will be there. In my 20’s I loathed them and did everything humanly possible to cover them.
In my 30’s I’ve come to accept them and the fact that without a celebrity makeup artist they’ll forever be a part of me. It also certainly doesn’t hurt that joining the mom tribe means my under eye circles have good company these days…or that I’m too busy to spend much time obsessing about them. Life is far better when you focus on the beauty you’ve created rather than the flaws you can’t really fix.
I’m also learning to accept the FACT that time is my most precious resource. There will never be enough time in the day and I’ll probably never master how exactly to divide it. I have endless amounts of love, nearly endless amounts of patience and plenty of energy. Time however, is another thing entirely. And I have to spend that time wisely.
Mornings here with two working parents and two young children are hectic so my morning routine has to be barebones. Face wash, moisturizer, lip balm. I’ve used the same face wash for years because no matter what it leaves my skin feeling clean and smooth. My trusty lip balm has never changed either. What has changed is my moisturizer. Living in San Diego has led me to realize that sun protection is far more crucial than it was when I lived in New York.
Since my beauty routine (if you can call it that) is pretty minimal and makeup is a luxury, I’ve switched to a moisturizer that speaks to my sensitive skin by fighting redness while giving me some built in protection from the sun with SPF 15. AVEENO® ULTRA-CALMING® DAILY MOISTURIZER BROAD SPECTRUM SPF 15 fits into my routine since it serves dual purposes, is easily available in stores like Target and is conveniently sized to be TSA compliant in my carry on luggage while traveling. Yes, this is super important to me, especially when traveling for work.
Speaking of which, I’m also learning to accept and not be shy about my perfectly imperfect and kind of crazy life as a WAHM. Most of my friends outside of the blogging world don’t understand what I do or that I really have two jobs – one running and writing my blog and another in influencer strategy. Combined I work far more than full time, probably 60 hours a week.
I’ve realized that other parents don’t know what to label me as. Am I in the stay at home mom tribe? The work outside the home mom tribe? I guess neither. And these days I’m just fine with that. One week I might be traveling to conferences and another I am waist deep in spreadsheets and snapping photos of my DIY projects. I might be up working till midnight but it’s worth it for the days when I have the flexibility to work while watching my little man play by my side or volunteer at my daughter’s school.
In the end it all boils down to knowing I’m doing the best I can right now, accepting the things I can’t change, running with the things I can easily change and celebrating the things I have accomplished in this beautifully imperfect life. I’ll take it, craziness and all.
