For the average parent, a weekday morning with school-age kids is a blur of packed lunches, tantrums about a wearing a jacket, and 9,000 reminders to please just brush your effing teeth, child! I would never, ever judge another parent at school drop-off – not only because I am frequently the mom wearing sweat pants and Crocs (yes, Crocs) at the bus stop, but also because I know the hell many parents have to go through to get a child out the door on time. But, according to at least one mom on the Internet, mothers like me are doing it all wrong.
In an anonymous post on the Sanctimommy Facebook page, a woman called out moms who don't get dolled up to drop off their kids at school.
Even if you aren't getting out of the car, the anonymous mom wrote, you should still try to look good because she's sick and tired of seeing "rats nest hair, no makeup, [and] eye bags out to wherever."
Most importantly, she adds, moms' fugly appearances at drop-off are humiliating to their children and husbands.
She wrote, "My daughter said to me, 'Mommy, you are so pretty. My friends' mommies all look so old. I'm so proud of you that you are my mommie.'"
"If my seven year old can see you aren't even trying," she wrote, "what is your husband thinking? Take some pride."
Oh, honey. Gwyneth Paltrow called, and she wants her #1 A**hole trophy back.
The comments on the Sanctimommy page DESTROYED this post.
Some people were, like, a thousand percent sure her daughter never said any of that.
Others were more concerned about the implications if her little girl really did say that.
Honestly, it's kind of disturbing if a 7-year-old already knows that women are only valuable and worthy of admiration if they look pretty.
Some also offered d*mn good excuses why they show up looking disheveled.
But here's the thing – these moms shouldn't need to offer up excuses. Many moms may be truly frazzled and don't have time to get ready before school drop-off. Others might be suffering from depression or another invisible illness that makes even basic tasks feel insurmountable. Neither of those kinds of women deserve to be shamed. But I'm willing to bet that there are just as many women out there who simply don't feel the need to get dressed up, period. And that's a perfectly valid choice, too. Not everyone finds value in looking pretty. Some people don't like spending 45 minutes on their hair, and others prefer T-shirts to nice blouses. As for me? I like rocking a bare face, and I've made peace with the little creases that are starting to form at the corners of my eyes.
If your husband is unhappy unless you look like a Barbie doll, that's your own marriage issue to worry about. And if your daughter truly thinks it's an accomplishment that her mom is prettier than other moms, it's worth considering expanding her worldview.
If you love looking hot at drop-off, great! You work that carpool line like a crooked runway. But the line is drawn at expecting other moms to do the same. At the end of the day, it's not the shabby moms at drop-off who have a problem, it's this lady who never learned to look at a woman and see more than a vehicle for lip gloss.
