It’s a New Year…let’s start with WHY?

This was a unique situation where the parents with long lists of items (and an even longer list of “to do’s” when they got home) had to make a serious strategic decision.

Do they stop for the face painter, and get that free fantasy artistry, causing additional delays in the whole activity, potentially allowing cashier line to grow even longer? OR do they pass on by, risking emotional conflict, crying, whining, and all-out-meltdowns that will make the rest of the excursion miserable?

Luckily, I was able to convince most parents that the investment of 3-5 minutes for a holiday design was well worth the wait. I explained how happy and grateful the children would be…”painting the picture” of an easy, breezy grocery visit, as the parent danced down the aisles listening to great praise from staff and other shoppers about their adorable, picture perfect child, and generally making the parent feel like a SUPERHERO.

It was a great weekend for me..and reminded me why I left my corporate job 17 years ago to become a professional face painter. Yes, read that again….LEFT MY (EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT…) CORPORATE JOB to become a professional FACE PAINTER!!!!

But for you to understand, we need to go back, to 1996…

It was a beautiful sunny day at the beach and a friend and I were reviewing the videotape recording from a nanny cam, watching my babysitter interact with my 9 month-old daughter. I am steaming mad at the language and meanness she used with my baby. I am ready to fire her just for her bad attitude. But then in horror, I watched her slap my baby’s face (for crying), stuff a towel in her mouth, and twist her leg. All to keep her quiet. I felt sick and panicked, like I had just been beaten. I felt helpless and wanted to just hold onto my baby and never let her go, even though we were (at that moment) 100 miles away from the monster who hurt her.

Over the next few years, a long criminal prosecution followed the nanny’s arrest. Eventually jail and her deportation allowed us to return to might be called “normalcy.”

But for the next decade, I couldn’t handle the sound of a crying baby…not in a grocery store, at a mall, at a Gymboree class, or even just playing on a playground. I felt that I personally needed to comfort every crying child, try to get them to smile, let them know that I cared, that I could hear them, that I was there for them!

Once I began face painting, I saw the joy that I could bring to children as I turned them into a princess, superhero, animal or butterfly. The smile as they looked into the mirror helped me to heal, while showing their family and friends that they were happy with the transformation. For me, face painting was a way to give back to all the sad children in the world, in the only way I could. Spreading joy: one event, one smile at a time.

THAT is WHY I do what I do.