MimList: 5 Reasons Every Mom Must Own A Black Dress

Mimi Hecht

Mimi Hecht is a stark contrast to the by-the-books, food pureeing, self-sacrificing supermom that many women feel pressured to live up to. Her articles like “The 10 Untruths about Motherhood” and “My Mama Manual” offer women an honest and humorous take on both the joys and hardships in trying to stay sane, stylish and spiritual in Motherland. Through her candor in addressing things like infertility, the high price of groceries or her mind-battle over circumcising her son, Mimi strives to inspire confidence in women and teach new moms to march to the beat of their own drum. To share her thoughts and celebrate all kinds of mothers, she started LADYMAMA a growing online community of modern-day Jewish women. Follow LadyMama on Facebook at facebook.com/JewishWomen

5 Reasons Every Mom Must Own A Black Dress

[ Stay tuned for Fashion-Isha's guest blog on some amazing black dress finds! ] 

1. Hide The Mess (it’s all over you!)
Black is the ultimate comeback to all the things your kids throw, spill and paint all over you. It’s a safety zone in the world of stained mom-wear. With a black dress, you can actually get dressed before the babysitter arrives without avoiding your kids like they’re a plague. If you get something on you, just wipe it down with some water and it blends right in. No one will ever see the spitup, marker and food that is truly all over you.

2. Mask The Bulge (come on, we all have one)
Whether you lost all your baby weight or not, chances are you’re still showing a little bulge where it counts. What better to hide it with than a slimming back dress? Oh and just a side note, when someone compliments you for looking so svelte, don’t say “Oh, no, it’s just the dress.” You were smart enough to wear it, so just take the compliment.

3. Leave The House (you can do it)
The complaints of “I have nothing to wear” start during pregnancy and may not end for a while - unless you have tons of time (and money!) to be shopping. If you just make sure to have that perfect black dress, it will become your best friend when it’s time to go out.  No more sad excuses. Get out of your pajamas and enjoy a night out!

4. Blend in (gasp!)
If the idea of not standing out scares you, this one is for you. While the days of catching every one’s eye with your wardrobe choice don’t have to be over, sometimes it’s good to leave the house without making that your focus. You’re a mom now and wearing a black dress says ‘I’m happy with my life” and “I can appreciate simplicity.” Plus, in a black dress, you make the rules and define yourself.  Now you decide how you’ll stand out - not your dress. Call it maturity, call it boring - it’s an important experience to have now that you’re a mom.

5. Have Fun With Everything Else (go all out)
With the blank canvas of your perfect black dress, you can now have fun with some long-neglected areas....like makeup, hair and jewelry! Take advantage of not having to work with certain colors and styles to match your outfit. Get vavoom with your hair, chunky funky with your jewelry and be a bit brave with your makeup. Go all out with your, well, femaleness! And for those moms who need the reminder: don’t forget to shave your legs. We all know it's been a while.

Thought to Light By: Journeys and Journeys

Brought to you by FridayLight
[Written by Mimi Hecht]


This week's Torah portion reminds us of the forty-two stages ("encampments") the Jewish people went through en route to the Promised Land. It's good to know that our small steps of progress are counted in the bigger picture. Many of us have enormous goals that seem unconquerable. We must remember that the desert travel of our People was marked by important phases of rest and motion - little journeys within an epic migration. Light your candles tonight and honor all the significant stages you experience as part and parcel of reaching your destination. Celebrate how every movement in itself is an odyssey within the great journey of life. 

Waiting For A Second Child

Anonymous

If you wish to send the author of this article a message (to share your story or swap resources) please contact Mimi@LadyMama.org. 

The author also shared a great resource for parents dealing with second infertility: www.atime.org.  (They have a support forum that is for SIF and a hotline that you can call for medical referrals, rabbis and join support groups.)

WAITING FOR A SECOND CHILD

I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter. I have a busy life full of dinner, lunches, laundry, cleaning up toys, bath time, bedtime books and cuddles.  I am grateful for what I have and I thank Hashem for it every day. And yet, there is a hole...

I am experiencing secondary infertility. 

While I would never ever compare the pain of someone who has no children to what I am experiencing, it hurts. Maybe not everyone would feel pain, but I do. 

Let me start from the beginning.

Skenazy writes critically of people who blame Kletsky parents

Author of "Free Range Kids" Lenore Skenazy (dubbed "America's Word Mom" after becoming famous for letting her 9-year old take the subway by himself) responds to the murder of Leiby Kletzky: 

"People will blame the parents for letting their son walk even a few blocks on his own. I’ve already read some of those comments. They are like knives. Is it better to have a city — a country, a world — where no child is ever outside again without an adult? Where parents who let their kids to walk to the bus stop are treated like pariahs? Where the parks are empty, the playgrounds are empty, bikes sit in the garage and children hunker inside with their terrified moms and dads?"

Continue reading here.

Speaking to your kids about personal safety

A public service workshop from The Center for Jewish Family Life/Project YES on the topic of keeping our children safe from predators.

Speaking To Your Kids About Personal Safety from Yakov Horowitz on Vimeo.

Makeup in a Minute - Here's How!

By Ettel Chava Rosenbaum
Chava is a 26 year old mother of two girls living in Kensington, NY.  She has been a practicing makeup artist for nearly seven years and recently began doing makeup for the exploding field of religious women's theater...in which she also loves to perform! Chava offers lessons to women, teaching them how to apply their own makeup like a professional. In addition to makeup, her passions are singing, comedy and keeping her kids out of her shoe rack. Chava is available to do makeup for simchas and productions in New York. You can contact her to book a consultation or job by e-mailing beautybychava@rocketmail.com

People often ask me about doing makeup in a real hurry. 


Never mind the five minute face. I'll give you a one minute face!


Apply some undereye concealer and foundation if you need. Then get a cream multipurpose color. In a pinch you can use a berry lipstick for this but you can also get a product made for this like the Nars Multiple, or Boomstick Color by Cindy Joseph. (The boomstick only comes in one color but it is the ideal sheer berry shade which works on all tones and in all seasons, so get that color whenever possible, in any product.)

Using your middle finger, tap the cream color on your cheeks, center of the brow-bone and lips. Blend, adding product until you are satisfied. Set face with sheer powder and you're done. This adds the right shade to any part of your face that would be warmed by natural circulation giving you a super fast natural look! 

Brilliant! Make an "I-Spy Bottle" for your toddler!

By Menucha Levy
I am wife to my best friend and soulmate, mother to my beautiful, inspirational daughter, and homemaker – to our current dwelling. Here’s to blogging to inspire, re-create, and add a punch of spice and sparkle to our glorious occupations as mothers, wives, and homemakers!

I’ve been seeing this concept in all the toy stores recently, and I figure it’s one of those toy fads. Anyways, I figured it was easy enough to make one of my own. All you need is a collection of small trinkets from around the house, a good (dry!) water bottle, and rice. Plus, a camera to photograph the objects before inserting them into the abyss, and some hot glue to keep things tidy. :)

Read the rest of the post at Menucha's Blog, FreidaFroo! 

Mom Shot #15: What if the grass actually IS greener?

I thought this was a pretty funny view of my backyard. 

You see, around here, the grass actually is greener on the other side. 

And yet, even though it's not just a matter of mentality - even when there is real vines and flowers growing on someone else's patch of land - we STILL must find the beauty in our soil.

Here's to all the LadyMamas who find themselves looking in someone else's yard. So what if theirs is greener? Your yard is still your yard - that aint changin'. 

Now just go turn the sprinklers on. 

My Needy Baby

By Mimi Hecht

Mimi Hecht is a stark contrast to the by-the-books, food pureeing, self-sacrificing supermom that many women feel pressured to live up to. Her articles like “The 10 Untruths about Motherhood” and “My Mama Manual” offer women an honest and humorous take on both the joys and hardships in trying to stay sane, stylish and spiritual in Motherland. Through her candor in addressing things like infertility, the high price of groceries or her mind-battle over circumcising her son, Mimi strives to inspire confidence in women and teach new moms to march to the beat of their own drum. To share her thoughts and celebrate all kinds of mothers, she started LADYMAMA a growing online community of modern-day Jewish women. 

Follow LadyMama on Facebook at facebook.com/JewishWomen

"If I look at him wrong, I get a reaction that makes me feel like the World’s Worst Mom."

MY NEEDY BABY

When people used to tell me they had a “difficult” baby, I was full of judgments. I would think, “Oh, you must be uptight” and “I’m sure you're exaggerating.” After all, I had my own baby – so of course my opinions were warranted.

Little did I know that G-d would soon bless me with my own challenging bundle of joy and stress in the form of my second son.

When I delivered a boy the second time around, I experienced a funny sort of deja vu - like birthing the same baby all over again. The same gender, the same exact size, that same little pointy chin.

A million cries (both of ours) later, I have woken up to the fact that my second child is nothing like my first. I now am the proud mother of my very own “difficult baby.” Jokes on me.