I remember the first time I tried to put on eye shadow. My friend had given me a color palette for my birthday and I was eager to use it. The resulting sparkly eye makeup basically made me look like a glamorous clown.
My mom sat me down on the toilet in her bathroom and washed off all the glitter (not an easy feat). She took her fancy brushes and started over again, teaching me how to keep the makeup minimal while still making my eyes pop.
Eye shadow is just one minor entry in a long list of lessons that my mother passed on to me. After all, mothers are our greatest asset in life.
They've been through everything we are going and will go through ourselves, and they've come out the other side with the advice to prove it.
There are so many things in life that we wouldn't know if it weren't for our moms. There are so many lessons that only our moms could teach us based on her life experiences.
The best recipes are homemade and handed down.
You can read as many cooking and lifestyle magazines as you want, but that apple pie that’s been handed down from your great-grandmother is everything you need, no matter how many sticks of butter or cups of sugar it contains.
And, as a bonus, using your mom’s recipes will remind you of when you used to bake and cook together as a kid.
Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.
If your entry-level job is paying a pittance, it’s tempting to take the easy road and dress in jeans and a t-shirt every day. But mom took us into her closet and showed us how to dress like the boss we aspire to be.
She even donated to the cause with a few credit-card-sponsored shopping sprees.
There are colors that compliment you…and colors that don’t.
Of all my shopping partners in my life, my mom was always the most honest. If I put on something the color of mauve, she would tell me I’m too white to wear it.
My closet is full of green and blue because those were the colors my mom thought looked best. She taught me what works and what doesn’t in terms of color scheme.
Never sell yourself short – in life, love and business.
Moms teach us that we have a lot to offer the world. We are forces to be reckoned with. When someone is offering us less than what we deserve, our mothers are the first to stand up and tell us not to accept it.
Making your bed in the morning is a small way to feel accomplished.
When we were kids, we hated the fact that we had to make our bed in the morning. Why make it look pretty if we would just be messing it up again in 16 hours?
But mom made us understand that when you make your bed first thing in the morning, you capture a sense of accomplishment that sets the tone for the rest of your day.
A big purse is a department store, drug store, and gym all in one.
I never understood why my mom’s purse was so big. She’d carry all of her makeup, Tylenol, a small bottle of water, and at least $20 worth of change.
I would always make fun of her and tell her it was entirely too heavy to carry around. But now I understand it’s for the convenience of everything you MIGHT need. Plus, the heavy bag is a great way to keep your arms and shoulders toned.
Don’t rely on a man when you can take care of yourself.
When you fall in love someday, it won’t be because you need that man to be complete.
You have all the tools you need to take care of yourself, both in terms of money and personal strength. Your mother is the one that helped give you those tools.
It is possible to age gracefully.
In this world of facelifts and botox injections, getting older can seem terrifying. But one look at your mother and you’ll rest assured that it’s possible to keep your dignity (and your beauty) as you get older.
You can do anything you put your mind to.
Our moms are our biggest cheerleaders. They believe the sun shines out of our a**es no matter what, and that kind of support is important when it comes time for us to get out into the working world.
There are a lot of people that will tell us we’re not good enough, but our moms will always believe we can do anything.
Jane Villanueva had to rely on the lessons of her zany mother and grandmother to get through her accidental insemination and pregnancy on season one of The CW’s “Jane the Virgin.” But now that she is a mother herself, will their advice be enough to get her through a confusing romantic triangle and Baby Mateo's kidnapping? Check out the Season 2 Premiere on The CW, Monday, October 12th at 9/8c to find out.
