After the birth of my second child I turned into the mother I said I would never be. I’m the frumpy mom you see doing the zombie walk wearing cream cheese smeared yoga pants. I spent most of my days alone with two toddlers. I had no one to impress. Comfort beat out vanity every time.

Living in student housing didn’t help. Amongst harried graduate students and their overworked spouses I blended into the woefully frumpily dressed masses seamlessly. It was great. After spending most of my life concerned with my appearance it was a welcome break. I took my break from business casual seriously. Too seriously.

Eventually I grew tired of stuffing myself like a sausage into my non yoga pants clothing on the few occasions that I left campus. The bags under my eyes and the hair on my legs were no longer welcome. It’s not okay to not remember the last time you showered. It was time for a change. Here’s how I ditched the mom frumpiness, for the most part, yoga pants are too comfortable to abandon entirely.

Shower
It sounds simple but if you’ve ever been in charge of little ones then you know how much of a challenge this can be. With no one to watch the kids the prospect of showering alone can be daunting. Do it anyway. Be safe of course. Bring the baby seat into the bathroom with you, leave the shower curtain or door open a bit so baby can see you, and get it done quickly. You’ll feel better instantly.

If you’ve got a few kids in the house consider waking up early to get a quick shower in. If they’re awake tempt them with a cartoon they don’t watch often. Pull out some special occasion toys. Distract them for a few minutes and sneak away. I learned the hard way that it’s impossible to care about your appearance once you begin to resemble Linus. If you feel good you’ll look better. Start here.

Go shopping
Sadly so much easier said than done. What’s less appealing than showering with rogue children roaming unsupervised in your home? Shopping with said children in tow. You spend more time wrangling children than in the fitting room and before you’ve found anything flattering you’re running out of the mall with an angry sleepy kid. Not a good time.

Shop online if you can.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money. Buy yourself something cute that will motivate you to get dressed in the morning. You don’t have to go all out in the beginning. Start small and gradually work your way to wearing normal clothes everyday. Even if you aren’t leaving the home you will feel more like your former self if you ditch the mom uniform.

It’s a simple trick but it works wonders. If you’re not in the mood to buy new clothes try makeup. I know on days that my dark circles are concealed I feel a bit better. On the inside my soul is crying desperately for sleep but on the outside I look more like a productive member of society and sometimes that feels good!

Get out
Attend a play date, check out a library reading, or take the kids to a new park. Shake things up a bit. Meet new people. You might enjoy yourself and make it a part of your family routine. Hanging out with cute moms always shames me right out of my frump. If they can do it so can I.

I’ll never have hours to spend working out, fixing my hair, applying makeup, shopping leisurely, or styling cute outfits but I can find fifteen minutes to squeeze in a shower, put on some tinted moisturizer, and throw on cute jeans and a sweater. It helps and sets a productive tone for my day.

How do you stay motivated to keep up your appearance and ditch the mom frump?

Words By: Veronica Armstrong