A new phase

Our daughter entered a new phase of life today, and since I am her mother, by definition I entered one too. It has to do with clothes.

Our daughter has up until now not really cared too much about clothes. She would happily wear anything I brought home for her and didn't need to be with me to pick it out herself. She has also gravitated toward very plain styles - no sequins or lace, no flowers on dresses, only pattern she liked was stripes. I cannot tell you how nice and easy this was! Consignment stores provided most of her clothes until a few years ago, and I, being the practical and frugal mom that I am, felt immense satisfaction at providing her with plain, serviceable clothes at a minimal cost.

That all changed today.

We went shopping after church. (No flames please! I know it's a Sunday, but my hubby was here to stay home with the boys, so it worked.) She wanted a new skirt to wear to church. Since all she has right now is a denim jumper and an Easter dress from last year that's nearly too small, I thought this was a perfectly reasonable request. Not only did she find a cute skirt she liked, she also picked out a cami with fancy trim at the neckline, and a little black sweater to wear over the cami. I was completely floored. This was a huge switch from her usual style.

She looked absolutely adorable in the outfit, and absolutely grown up. I admired her outwardly while inwardly beseeching her not to grow up so fast. She clearly loved the outfit, and she loved herself in it. It was actually really fun to watch her face. So I bought the whole thing. And it was really fun to do it for her.

She quite happily wore the whole outfit for the rest of the afternoon! Then I had an epiphany. Provide her with cute skirts that she loves, and she will be more likely to want to wear them to church with a good attitude. My husband and I have already decided that beyond the modesty standard, we are not going to make church attire a battlefield. But I have always hoped that she would continue to want to wear dresses or skirts to church for a while longer rather than switching to pants. For the record I am not opposed to wearing pants at all, and in fact I sometimes wear them myself, but I prefer skirts/dresses. Maybe I'm old fashioned that way?

I'll post a picture of her new grown up look next Sunday when she's all dressed up for church!