Since having baby Chloe, I haven’t given up on my looks. I keep hearing about the stereotypes of the frumpy mom who has given up. I recently read Polly Williams’ book Yummy Mummy, which I loved, and one of the hurdles the hero-mom Amy Crane achieved was getting her legs waxed. Apparently she went 6 months before doing so. Yikes!!!
Statistically speaking, I’m not the only one. 73% of moms with children care about their appearance! 1 in 3 care deeply. And, 79% of them say they care deeply about maintaining themselves both as a woman and as a mom.
Allow me to be clear here… I am definitely not one of those moms who would sacrifice time with her children or family for vanity’s sake. Interestingly, only 3% of moms identify themselves as a “Fashionable mom who, while still making time for her family, does not compromise on her appearance and/or daily beauty routine.” That’s refreshing. To me it means that there really are hardly any moms who are actually this far to the spectrum, where they might actually have time allocation issues.
I’d say I’m one of the 44% of moms who “”keeps it real”, staying stylish and pretty but still making time for both herself and her family.” It’s important to make time for myself so I don’ t go crazy. And I want to be an attractive spouse to my partner… And yes, he likes that. *twinkle* But at the end of the day, I am really maintaining myself FOR myself. I like to be a strong, sexy, powerful woman. I want to be an example for my daughter. I want her to learn that she can be whoever she wants to be, and that if she someday has a baby, she doesn’t have to give up everything. Just some sleep.
There is another segment to this momalysis (mom+analysis). About 44% of moms with children identify themselves as “clean and well-kept but not the most fashionable”. I can totally get this, as there were times over the past first year of being a mom that this was the way it was, no matter what I did. I would like to do some further analysis, though. Do they have more children? Are they significantly busier, or perhaps do they spend more time out of the public eye?
Only 9% of moms identified themselves at the far end of the range, as a “mom who does not prioritize her appearance.” Considering the stereotype, I find this to be an absolute myth-buster. Really, that means that 91% of moms are at the other end of the spectrum.
OK, there is more on this, I’ll be back later.
I post my insights here all the time: www.babycentersolutions.com
