Style

Hadley and I went shopping at Kohls tonight. She walked through the store, touching different dresses and shirts. She gravitated toward shiny, silky polyesters (it was Kohls) with a little bling. She kept saying, "This is sooo stylish." In the dressing room she would put on the dresses I was trying on which hung on her like bags, twist and turn while staring in the mirror saying, "Don't I look so stylish?" in this higher than normal snotty voice. Then when we got to the girls section. My eyes bulged as my little princess admired trendy seventies patterns and ignored the classic little girl dresses. I was also working hard not to laugh outloud as my little girl passed judgement on all the dresses.

Hadley will be six this month. Sounds old for my baby, but still a little girl. I wonder often about the teenage years. Hadley regularly comes home from school emotionally distraught, super happy or sometimes near tears. It all hinges on how she and the other little girls got along that day. There is the drama of Qynn who, in Hadley's eyes, is always saying something mean. And the appeal of the beautiful Lily, it seems all the little girls fight to be Lily's friend and she can't play with more than one person at a time. Nicole who has scratched Hadley for no reportable reason. Rashad who makes Hadley giggle and gets her in trouble at naptime. I don't suppose the actors vary much from classroom to classroom, but her emotional response to it all is nothing I expected to deal with so early. I keep thinking, how much more intense is this going to get? I mean she's only six (almost).