Wednesday, October 31, 2012

A Halloween my teen will never forget

My 13 y/o daughter is a bit of a challenge.  She's feisty, headstrong, stubborn, thinks she knows everything.  She's never wrong.  Ever. You know the typical teenage stuff.   

She's been pestering us for about a week to let her wear her Halloween costume to school today.  I didn't think it was a good idea.  For one that stinking costume cost a lot of money and I was worried it was going to get ruined.  Second, I kept questioning her why she even wanted to wear a costume to school (she's in the 8th grade).  She insisted that everyone was going to wear a costume and she would just curl up and die if we didn't let her wear it (did I mention she's dramatic too?)   My hubby told her she could wear her Dorothy costume, provided she wore some pants under the dress because the skirt is a bit short for our liking and there was no way we were going to let her wear a short skirt with bare legs to school. 

This morning she got up super early and probably spent about two hours in the bathroom getting ready.  Funny how she's always too tired to unload the dishwasher, but she can get up at 5 am if that means getting dolled up for an event. 

At my daughter's school they don't let the kids into the building until a certain time so the entire student body stands out front of the school's front doors.  I don't blame the school officials.  I'm not particularly fond of teenagers either.  This buys the staff a few precious minutes to slam some coffee and tell themselves they love their job and today is not the day to jump off the roof (okay that's what i'd be doing if I taught middle school).  

As i'm parked next to the curb watching the students walk across the street towards the school, I noticed something funny.  No one was wearing a costume.  I repeat, NO ONE was wearing a costume!  I could tell my daughter was getting a little anxious as she peered out the window and watched with horror as each car unloaded a group of kids dressed in jeans and hoodies.   As she nervously stepped out of the van, dressed head to toe in a gingham Dorothy dress, leggings, high heeled ruby slippers (with glitter), and her hair in braids (complete with a big blue bow), she asked, "Mom, do I look crazy because none of the other kids are wearing costumes?"  My response to my difficult daughter that gives me handfuls of grey hair and acid reflux?  "No, not at all." 

I drove away with butterflies in my stomach as I suddenly pictured myself in that movie worthy scenario.   Let's just say that today i'm thankful that i'm 34 and not 13.  And i'm fairly certain that this will be a Halloween that she will never, ever, forget. 

5 comments:

  1. Keep us posted on how it turned out. I'm not sure what I would have done if I were you in that situation - or quite frankly her.

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    1. I'm guessing she'll be wearing her gym clothes when I pick her up, or she'll borrow a shirt from one of her friends. There really wasn't anything I could do. We live too far from the school to drive home and take her back.

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  2. LOL You never know! If she's like my daughter, she might just rock it and make everyone else wish they had done the same thing!

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  3. Ouch Mom; you're right, it will be memorable...but knowing how strong her Mom is I'm sure your daughter will come through with flying colours.

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  4. Ugh. I'm sure she looked fantastic but at 13 I would have wanted to curl up and die. Poor thing! I hope she walked around like she owned it.

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