Exercise in Patience

You have not shopped until you shop with three girls--two of whom hate shopping and hate anything pink or sparkly. It is really hard to find tween girl clothing is not pink or sparkly. And my girls have each selected a preferred color; nobody else is allowed to buy anything in her sister's color.  SS is pink, TT is teal blue, and PS is purple.  It is exhausting finding things they like that meets their preferences. But our trip was a necessity. 

SS is heading to fashion camp in a couple of weeks, and needed some things to take along. She is the easy one, though.

TT wears nothing but t-shirts (usually super-hero t-shirts).  She is a self-proclaimed tomboy and refuses to wear anything that might be girly. When I asked her if she had a nicer shirt to wear to take-your-kids-to-work day today, she said, "my aeropostale polo shirt."  Yes, in her world an aeropostale polo shirt is her "nice" shirt. (I guess if it has a collar, it's nice.) Preferably paired with knee-length khaki shorts.  

After much searching, we finally found a teal blue shirt with no ruffles or sparkles.  It technically falls into the t-shirt category, but it has some details that make it cute and summery. Good enough. At least there are no graphics or words on it. But I also got her a consolation "I heart Star Wars" t-shirt for enduring our shopping trip.

PS wears nothing but black and dark purple.  And she has recently informed me that she doesn't like to wear shorts anymore--all she wants is black skinny jeans. (Yeah, we live in a place where our summers regularly include triple-digit days, and I don't wear jeans ever between May and October.) But none of her clothes fit. She's shot up to within 2 inches of my height and has started to fill out into regular-person size instead of beanpole-kid size, gaining a full 2 sizes in the last 9 months.

But, OMG, she won't pick anything out.  She hates everything that I pick out.  Shopping with her is torture, but the kid is literally bursting out of her clothes. We made it home with a pair of skinnies and a pair of shorts (we'll she if she decides they're not so bad come our first 110 degree day). I've never met another teenage girl who wouldn't pick out new clothes.

An hour-and-a-half was all I could take. And for all my complaints, it was  nice to have some time with my girlies.