Growing Up Too Fast
Submitted by
Sarah Stockton
OK, I'll admit it: I don't like the dress my daughter picked out to wear to her first high school dance. It's the wrong color for her hair, but more than that, it's too short and just a bit too clingy.
But I can't stop her. I can't veto it with a firm, "No way are you wearing that out of this house!" and feel OK about it.
Why? Because it's not really too short or too clingy. Not by today's standards—or, frankly, by the standards of my own high school dances. I mean, my friends and I wore stuff that our moms didn't like. In fact, we did it all the time. We avoided arguments by changing into those clothes after we got to the home of the one girl who had a cool mom who didn't care what we wore. She even loaned us her makeup and showed us how to shorten our skirts. Today, I have to wonder what she was thinking!
It's not that my daughter looks sleazy in her new dress. Actually, she looks, well, kind of cute ... crossing over into kind of sexy, which is obviously the effect she's going for. It's weird to see my little girl in a big-girl dress.
I guess I should be grateful: At least my daughter shops with me, asks my advice and shows me what she's wearing. That's more than I did with my own mother. It's just getting harder as she gets older. What would happen if I were to ban this particular dress, which isn't really that bad? Would she start sneaking clothes over to some other, hipper mom's house and change there? I want her to dress in clothes that I think are appropriate for her age without driving her away. Can I learn to compromise? Or will it kill me?
Is your baby growing up too fast? Tell us about it and we might feature your story, too!
Is your baby growing up too fast? Tell us about it and we might feature your story, too!
Submit!
