YenYen and Anika were playing in one corner of the almost empty waiting lounge at the doctor's office. Roselle had gone in with Uncle Naldo and Auntie Nita to see the doctor and I was left to mind the kids. As I was going through the pages of some old magazine, the two girls came and found their places on each side of me. They got tired of the game they were playing and decided they want to do just as I was.
Silence.... but not for long. Anika started asking me... too many questions I can hardly keep up with her. YenYen, sitting next to my right, was swinging her legs while flipping the pages of an old magazine, as if to some kind of rhythm. Every now and then I would shush Anika to keep her quiet, even just for a little while. And then YenYen was done with her magazine... but her eyes were transfixed on the back glossy cover page. As I leaned towards her to take a look at the image, she said with excitement, "Mommy Dang, when I grow up, I want to be like this"... Seeing the very pretty face on the page, I replied, "You mean you want to be a model?". "No, no, no... I want to be able to put make up on, like her, and be pretty!".
Advertising success! ... or at least, it was for a 9-year old girl. Vanity has taken over little girls... their young minds swindled into substituting powder and lipstick for the fresh and natural, mascara for naive composition, contents supplied in those jars and bottles for the mystery within.
To be or not to be... only she can determine. My part was assuring her that she is pretty as she is... just as her mom tells her everyday. Good nature will always supply beauty but beauty will never supply good nature... que sera, sera!
