Maybe it's Maybelline.

So Madison is 13.

Man, I remember alot about being 13!!!

There is so much I don't remember about growing up.

I have a horrible memory.

I remember flashes and jumbled up little snipetts of events.

My earliest clear memory where I can recall in exact sequence

how things happened and the details like conversations, or supporting characters

isn't until I was around 12 or 13.

It's a frustration for me

and I rely alot on what other people say happened.
Finding old friends on facebook

has jogged my memory a little,

but I still struggle to

put lots of pieces together from years ago.

My cousin Carrie has the best memory ever.

She remembers what people were wearing, what they said,

how she and others felt, and little details about

certain events that just bring them back to life.

I love learning about my young self from her.

But I do remember alot about being 13,

and it's totally different than today's 13 year old girl.

Madison has always been an old soul.

She was born serious and has been keeping us all on the straight and narrow

ever since.

She's responsible and direct.

Totally capable of making hard decisions and sticking with them.

I admire her determination and conviction.

But she's still 13.

This year is full of so many changes.

I can see her becoming a woman before my eyes.
She's getting to know who she is and

is learning how to best present herself.

Lately I've seen her paying much closer attention

to how she does her makeup

and what kind of clothing she wears.

She's on the conservative side,

which I am so proud of, but

she also has very striking eyes and

she's quite curvy (like her mom),

so playing those attributes up

in a tasteful way requires some style.

In the spirit of trying to start her off right

in the art of self presentation,

and to give myself a refresher,

she and I went to the local Clinique sales rep

and had our colors done.

We had so much fun getting to play with the products.

Of course the sales lady said all the right things

like, "My, you two could be sisters!",

so I left there feeling quite youthful!

Madison was raving about my eyelashes and

I was raving about her glowing skin.

We had a great time together and came home with a bag

full of magic.

So now, we start our mornings off with

a cleanser, a clarifying lotion and a moisturizing lotion

followed by various concealers and shimmering pinks and browns.

Seeing her come into my bathroom with her hair in a ponytail

and asking me if I like what she's done with her eyes,

makes me sad and happy at the same time.

I'm so blessed to have a daughter like Maddie

to share these fun girly things with

and I'm overjoyed that she's already a woman of character,

but at the same time,
I know how fleeting these next five years are.

I can hardly find the curly-haired little girl behind her

perfectly shadowed blue eyes anymore

and that makes me want to stop the clock!

But, I know that my saddness is selfish.

This is her time.

The teen years are full of excitement and adventure.

New discoveries and little tastes of freedom

are around every corner.

She's learning now who she wants to be in the future

and how to get there.

So, while there was a lump in my throat behind my

broad, doting smile,

I studied Madison's eyes

and told her what a beautiful job she'd done on them

that morning.

Maybelline has nothing on this girl,

she was born with it!