my girls are growing up. i mean, i knew it was happening. they learn something new each and every day. they're growing taller. their vocabulary is expanding. but two milestone events occurred recently that made me laugh, but also made me think, "wow...they aren't babies anymore."
at the age of 7, madelyn decided that, um, a certain part of her body required, well, a certain article of clothing. ok, who are we kidding...let's be candid about this. she declared that she needed a bra. only she didn't tell me. she told her aunt jen. i'm not sure if she was completely serious when she made this announcement, or if she was all giggly and silly when she said it. i'm willing to bet it was the latter. nonetheless, the words came out of her mouth.
i found this to be quite humorous when my sister told me. a bra? seriously? the child is tall and lanky and doesn't have an ounce of fat on her. at 7, there's no way she could even remotely need a bra. so imagine my surprise--and my amusement--when aunt jen bought madelyn a "back to school" gift. you should've seen madelyn's excitement when she pulled out of that jc penney bag two bras with matching boy short panties.
now, let me define the word "bra" as it pertains to a 7-year-old's article of clothing. it's like one of those stretchy cloth headbands...for your chest. a 4 inch wide piece of fabric with two straps. oh, and monkeys. madelyn's had monkeys on it. it's kind of like an undershirt, a camisole. only extremely cropped.
of course, she had to immediately put it on. and for the next few days she wore it under everything. and showed people. not, like, strangers on the street or anything. but gran, and aunt jen, and pappaw (who did not like it one bit. made her too "growny"). and sometimes, she wore it with nothing else over it. like the fact that she had something to cover "that part of her body" excused her from having to wear a shirt. i swear, the child sat at the kitchen table one day with the bra and a pair of shorts and that's it.
then there's ella. i had finally accepted the notion that ella, who has found solace in sucking her thumb from day one, would probably enter high school still grasping on to that horrible habit. not that it isn't absolutely adorable. you can tell when ella is getting sleepy because she will suck her thumb and rub a blanket...or the corner of her shirt...or anything else, for that matter, against her eye until she falls asleep. but the other night, ella declared to gran and pappaw when she spent the night at their house that she was finished. no more sucking her thumb.
the next morning, pappaw said that she walked into the kitchen and announced "i didn't suck my thumb last night. you can kiss my thumb good-bye!" and that was it. i haven't seen her do it since.
i couldn't wait for ella to stop sucking her thumb. although i admit it's pretty darn cute that her top front teeth have the slightest of a gap and stick out just a tad, i knew that continuing to do this would later lead to trouble. but now that she has declared that she will never do it again, i can't help but feel a bit sad. it's just another sign that she's growing up. and madelyn...there's no doubt that i love shopping for her. children's clothes are way cooler now than they were when i was growing up. and kiddie bras with matching panties are pretty cute. but the other night while i was shopping, it occurred to me that some of the kids' clothes were a lot more "grown up" than i wanted my 7 year old to be wearing. a friend and i joked that it looked like madonna, circa 1984, designed target's fall line for girls aged 7-12.
it's funny how we are always looking forward to that next big milestone: their first step, their first tooth, their first word. but the next thing you know, they're not just walking, they're running. they're not getting teeth, they're losing teeth. they're not just talking, they're backtalking. so as much as i can't wait for the day when madelyn is old enough for me not to have to pay for daycare, or when ella gets to the age where i can take her to walmart without having to straight jacket her into a shopping cart, i need to live in the now and enjoy them for the little girls that they are. my little girls. they'll grow up soon enough.
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