The night before the parent-teacher meeting, my daughter asked, “Mom, what are you going to wear for the meeting tomorrow?” I said, “Just gray sportswear.” My daughter said, “Can’t you wear a skirt, makeup, or something?” After listening to her, I felt speechless in my heart.

I used to spend two hours every day putting on makeup and dressing myself up. I wore fashionable clothes and high heels every day. I went to the barber to wash my hair every day. I went to the beauty salon twice a week to do skin care. I often went to the salon for a manicure.

Look at this strange woman in the mirror. Her face is tired. Her skin is dry. She wears sports clothes and jeans every day.

I told my mother and my child about these thoughts. My mother said to me, “Being a mom is a difficult job. If you want to do this job well, first, you need to be good to yourself. Then you can take better care of your children. Give yourself some time to do what you want to do.”

I think it is time to get back to the self-confident and passionate me and be a better “myself.”

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Jin Zheng was born in China and now lives in Brooklyn. She has a daughter and a son. In her free time, she goes out to lunch with friends, shops, and attends lectures in the community to enrich herself. She hopes to improve her English in 2020. She studies with Julie Layton at NYU Langone’s Family Health Centers in Brooklyn, where Lena Jaffe is the site adviser.