Lip gloss and baby wipes

Whilst trying to find a new name for my blog I came up with the name: Lip gloss and baby wipes, which for some reason sparked off a creative streak in me which lead to the story below.  I just wanted to convey why those 2 items are of such importance to a mother.  I'd love any feedback on my writing!  If you don't like it I won't plague you with anymore of it!!


Lip gloss and baby wipes.  She always had them around her somewhere.  The wipes to mop up the inevitable spills, mucky fingers, sick, blood or tea.  The lip gloss in an attempt to look like the yummy mummy she longed to be without drawing attention to the teeth she wished were straight and bright white instead of slightly crooked and stained.

Not that there was much chance of that happening.  3 pregnancies had taken their toll on her body and her belly sagged like an apron over her trousers.  No amount of dieting was ever going to get rid of that souvenir.  And she was certainly never going to be seen in a bikini again.  She had stretch marks on her stretch marks reaching up to her bust.  No, motherhood had left its indelible marks on her body and there wasn't much she could do about it now.

Magazines in the supermarket aisles taunted her: 'X lost all her baby weight 2 days after the baby was born!'  'See Y's post baby figure!'  "Sure", she grunted to herself.  "I could have looked like that if I didn't have a baby permanently attached to one boob while trying to chase after a demented toddler and cook tea for a grumpy husband.  I could have looked like that if all I had to do was worry about looking good!"

Her one solace was her nail polish and lip glosses.  Her husband had no idea of the amount of money she spent on make up but she was careful with her budget and that was her one indulgence, her treat to herself for whenever she was allowed some 'me time' - which was once in a blue moon.

She'd never been 'pretty'.  Cheap, ill advised NHS glasses and a natural lack of style had made sure of that.  But she loved pretty things.  Sparkle, glitter, glamour - secretly she longed for it all.  The gorgeous dresses in the magazines that fitted a size 0 model would never look right on her, but nail varnish would always look good, no matter what size she was.  And it made her smile to see a bit of glitter on her fingers.

She had a love/hate relationship with lip gloss.  She loved it and had hundreds and wouldn't go out the house without it.  But she hated how sticky it could feel and how, when the wind blew, her hair would stick to her lips and then leave a slimey trail across her glasses.  And she also hated the fact that it wouldn't come out of bed linen or off wall paper when the kids had got hold of it and decided to smear it everywhere!  But applying it made her feel more like a woman and less like a cow/chef/all purpose maid so she ensured she had some on her at all times.