Mom of Daughters, Nice Work If You Can Get It

My girls are neither girly-girls nor tomboys, just somewhere in the middle. On any given day, each leans one way or the other, and then her style preference changes.

Last night I took my youngest child shopping for a dress to wear to her Senior Ball next Saturday. Mission accomplished. Lovely short-length teal dress with some understated ruffles around the skirt and some bling at the top. Very much like this dress, only dark blue/green. Little silver shoes to go with. Very nice. Oh to be young and have everything you try on look nice, and you just pick the one you like most. It was fun to see the different dresses on my (excuse and forgive me for saying this, but I can't help myself in this moment of mother-pride) Living Doll. She's adorable. OK, enough of that.

There were other girls shopping for their dresses whom I enjoyed observing as well (which kids call "creeping on" or "stalking," but I had no malevolent intentions, so I prefer to say "observing what was happening right in front of my eyes"). Two girls brought their gay male friend (I know this about him because they all kept announcing it loudly) to help them select and try on dresses, acting as a sort of Randy Fenoli of Say Yes to the Dress of Kleinfeld's fame, only in a Deb chain store in a strip mall on the main drag of a small Midwestern town. The antics of that group were hilarious. But I did notice our Randy taking a few peeks inside dressing room stalls whenever he could, and it occurred to me: what if a straight kid posed as gay for moments just such as this: nice work if you can get it?

Tomorrow: Wedding gown shopping in Indianapolis for the other daughter!

I'm so happy for both girls, and yet I'm missing my little girls who played with Play-Doh and Fisher Price Little People. Hug your little ones today, Mom. When you wake up "tomorrow," they will be wearing formals and registering for gifts.

Big Sigh.