My daughter: Clothes and growing up

Yesterday afternoon I went shopping at the mall (gag) for a pair of jeans. I loathe shopping for myself, but I love shopping for my kids. I had K with me (my 6, going on 13 daughter), and she ohh-ed and awed over every dress and furry vest. She'd hold up clothes up below her little face, strike a pose, and ask, "How do I look?!" The girl has a passion for fashion. We picked up a new pair of Wal-Mart boots for her (because I'm cheap) that were of the fashion trend. Little brown ones that stop at the ankle...the kind that lace up and zip and fold over. I'll admit, they were pretty cute. She was smitten and gasped when I decided that $20 was a respectable price to pay for boots and placed them in the cart. "I'VE ALWAYS WANTED BOOTS LIKE THIS!" she yelled (she says this about everything she ever receives....I'VE ALWAYS WANTED THESE OFF-BRAND GUMMY BEARS! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED THIS USED BOOK WITH THE FIRST FIVE PAGES MISSING! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED THIS RECEIPT FROM COSTCO! etc. etc.).

At our house, each of our kids has a closet organizer that contains six storage boxes. On Sundays we fill the boxes with outfits the kids can choose from for the week. Today K grabbed the outfit with her new boots---a pair of dark skinny jeans, a plain white shirt, and a gray and navy striped cardigan. With her mo-hawk made of tiny Afro puffs, she looked like she stepped from the pages of an H&M catalog.

As I restyled her puffs this morning, I noticed how gorgeous my little girl is. Her eyes are the perfect almond shape and they are a deep brown...almost black. Her lashes are thick and long and accentuate her beautiful eyes. And her smile...man, her smile will melt you. As I brushed back her hair and combed out her puffs, I suddenly imagined her at 16....and my heart jumped into my throat. My girl loves clothes and already has to be pried away from the mirror; just yesterday I made her "redo" her walk from the living room to her bedroom, because she started swinging her hips and shaking her booty like Shakira. I want to teach her to be a strong, confident, independent woman...but I also want to teach her to be modest with her body not for the benefit or sake of others, but because she values her body as a gift from God. But If yesterday's Shakira-shake and today's fashion show are any indication of what is to come, then man...we have our work cut out for us...