We were going to go Sunday afternoon- just her and I- but the afternoon got away from us- simply got eaten by a variety of chores. We ended up going as a whole family on Sunday in the early evening. This was good- the store wasn't too busy and we had plenty of time to wander and look. Julia saw lots of dresses that she liked. Unfortunately, a LOT of the dresses that she liked, Mommy and Daddy DID NOT LIKE. Since we've moved in to the 7-14 size clothes (Julia needs a size 8 now for the length alone...) it seems that we've also moved into very 'adult' like clothes. Here's one of the dresses that Julia felt that she just HAD TO HAVE.
I don't know if this picture really does the dress justice. Let's just say it was made from super clingy, stretchy fabric and clung to my 8 year old daughter in a way that a dress just shouldn't cling to my 8 year old daughter. We finally settled on trying on several dresses... including the one above (with a VERY clear caveat that we would NOT be purchasing that dress, but that I understood that sometimes it is fun to try on things that you wouldn't normally buy.)So... in the dressing room we go. She tries on each dress, then goes out to show it to Colin and Daddy who give their opinions. After about 6 dresses, we narrow it down to two. One that Mommy and Daddy both like, feel is appropriate for the occasion and looked adorable on her.
This dress also got bonus points because it was very complimentary to the dress that Mommy had picked up on the way into the store, tried on and fell in love with (can't find a photo of my dress, but it is ivory with green and brown flowers and a green sash at the waist, with a flowy skirt). I could just envision our entire family in green, white and brown... just a coordinated dream!Julia liked several others... including one that was VERY fancy... too fancy unless she was going to be the flower girl or some such thing in the wedding (which she wasn't going to be!). Her taste in ALL the dresses was simply way TOO old, TOO mature, TOO revealing.
As we are having this conversation with her, she starts to cry. Not just a little bit cry, but a big 'ol huge sobbing cry. I walk away and leave her with Daddy, but he is not able to fix it either... so we end up leaving Kohl's with only a dress for Mommy... and no dress for Julia.
We come home and the tears continue. Tears for the dress that was never going to be. We talk for awhile before she goes to bed, and I offer to take her to some more stores on Monday- with the hopes that we can find a dress that we BOTH agree upon. She was still emotional when we talked about it on Monday morning... as soon as I brought up the dress- the tears started to flow.
Monday afternoon, we hit the mall. Went to the usual suspects- The Children's Place, JCPenny, Sears. She saw several she liked, but none were 'the one'. I was even bending my rules a little and letting her look at fancier dresses- just in the hope that we could agree on a dress that didn't make her look like she was 18. We had decided to go to one more store- The Burlington Coat Factory. When we walked in the store, we saw this dress hanging on a rack right by the front of the store.... and she feel in love with it! The one on the rack wasn't her size, so we walked to the back of the store (momma praying the entire way...). She found several dresses she liked (at very reasonable prices I must say...) and she tried them all on. She finally selected this dress. So, it's a little fancier than I wanted. And not quite what she had in mind. But in the end Momma and Julia (and Daddy when we got home) are all happy....
But, here's the question... if it is this hard to dress my little girl at 8... what will it be like at 12? 16? How can I handle this better next time? How do I convince her that dressing like a 'hoochie-mama' really isn't the way to go? Boy... this mom thing just gets harder and harder.(BTW, my mom is probably laughing hysterically about right now and saying "You deserve it after what you put me through!"
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