Skip to main content

Wrinkles and Age Spots and Lines...OH MY!

My daughter and I were looking at a photo album the other day when she said, “Wow, Mom, you look so young here.”  I just frowned at her and replied…”Sweetie, we took this picture last fall.  I don’t look that much younger.”  Then, she did the little head bobble thing, as if to imply that I was delusional.   I heard my husband sighing in another room, which only meant that he keenly sensed the annoyed inflection in my voice and knew to use his ejector seat button on his escape hatch. 

Later that evening, I began to examine the different angles of my face. Sure, there were a few crows-feet but they were nothing to get injections over.  I also had the patent laugh lines, which I hated, but again, not really a candidate for Restalyne yet, and I had a few railroad tracks on my forehead…nothing bangs couldn’t hide.  Moreover, I didn’t have any jowls, or even a turkey neck, so, what did my daughter see that I didn’t?  

Perhaps, she sensed the overall marking of time by the nature of the picture itself.  She certainly noticed the changes in herself and her younger brother, as their transformations are very rapid and obvious from year to year.  Was she just plain insightful? An old soul?  On the other hand, was she just being a typical 10 year-old girl on the verge of tweendom?  Yet, instead of asking her what she meant by the comment, or why she thought I looked younger, I became the wounded juvenile by just being automatically insulted followed by an hour-long session of aesthetic insecurity in front of the mirror.  

I studied the picture after she went to sleep.  In the picture, we were all picking apples in the local apple orchard.  I was wearing a torn pair of shorts, my hair was up in a ponytail, I was wearing sunglasses, and then it hit me.  I don’t think it was that my face looked younger, per se; rather, my behavior reflected that of a more carefree person.  We took goofy pictures in the orchard, talked about apple recipes, joked around, and finally, ate the fruits of our labor in the car.  It was a great day, and we were in a great mood.  The photograph reflected all that carefree, uninhibited behavior which my daughter internalized as youthful.   The laugh lines, along with the detested age spot on my face, and the railroad tracks on my forehead were still there and trust me, they weren’t etched in any deeper than a picture of me recently, but to her, it was the candidness of the shot that probably prompted her to make that remark.  

Now, given this epiphany I am still going to be vigilant about my wrinkle free night cream, but, maybe, a little free spirit goes a long way.




Comments

  1. That's so true! Sometimes we're too serious for our own good and need to lighten up a bit. Great advice/post.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This Ain't No Cake of Affliction

As promised here is the first of some of my most treasured allergy free recipes for Passover.  I hope you enjoy them and use them as part of your tradition for a happy and safe holiday. Chocolate Cake (adapted from Nava Atlas’s Chocolate Cake recipe) This cake is so good, it’s a shame I only make it on Passover. It’s very fudgy and rich, and trust me you can’t eat too much of it at once and yet, the whole thing disappears in minutes. Try it for yourself. It’s super easy and it's egg, nut, dairy and can be made gluten free with gluten free cake meal. This picture is two cakes stacked with raspberry jam in the middle and a ganache topping-it makes a great birthday cake if your birthday lands on Passover. Ingredients-for one cake 5/8 cup cake meal (1/2 cup + 1/8) ¼ cup+ 1 ½ tbsp. Potato starch 3 TBSP cocoa powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder (you can use the Kosher for Passover one) ½ tsp. salt ¼ cup oil 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar 1 tsp. v

Cookies for Breakfast-(Gluten,egg,dairy and nut free)

As allergy moms, we have to learn how to re-feed our families from scratch.  Ten years ago, this was not a simple task as we did not have the explosive array of allergy free items we have today.  However, just because we have more extensive choices, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy.  In fact, I have noticed that the preponderance of allergy items is snack food, cake mixes, cookies, etc… Moreover, I found it curious that many food allergy parents such as myself, were actually gaining weight, probably because we were always baking for our kiddos so they wouldn’t feel left out at school, family events, birthday parties and playdates.  While I felt good about being able to provide these tasty alternatives, my fitness and nutrition goals were less than stellar and in need of an overhaul. As a trainer and nutrition consultant with a lot of experience in limited diets, I am constantly trying to create healthy alternatives that won’t break the caloric bank, provide nutrition, and

Thanksgiving Recipe-"Cheesecake Cuties"

Thanksgiving is typically the portal to guilty holiday overeating, resulting in New Year's resolutions which are routinely broken by January 15th. Sound familiar? It's a vicious cycle. Moreover, for those of us with food allergies, these types of holidays are landmines. We are constantly surrounded by string beans almondine, pecan pie, walnut brownies, stuffing with egg, and the list goes on.  As a writer about nutrition, a recently appointed trainer at ThePerfectWorkout , and a mom with children suffering from multiple food allergies, I am trying to balance holiday consumption and safety-not always an easy thing to juggle especially when it comes to dessert. This Thanksgiving, try this recipe for "Cheesecake Cuties." They are nut, dairy, egg and gluten free. They are petite,creamy and incredibly easy to make. They won't break your calorie bank (unless you eat all 24) they are safe for those allergy challenged, and they really taste great. There is no reason