Renaissance Woman

My daughter and I went with some friends to a tutu party last summer held     at a local high-end department store. Imagine thirty little girls in line waiting to be dusted and perfumed and spritzed and glitzed and generally fussed over.   They were all wearing tutus.  My four-year old bounces when she’s excited.    As we got closer to the front of the line, she moved past bouncing into full on jumping.    She pointed and yelled “Mom, the grownups are wearing tutu’s too”  (say that ten times quickly).   Sure enough, the workers in the children’s department were decked out with full size ballet tutus.   

Imagine thirty mom’s  waiting in line.  I was  trying to avoid eye contact with the sales people.  I kept checking the tags and asking my friend “Do they really think we’re going to pay $80 for a pair of jeans for a preschooler?”    The glitz and excitement of the under eight crowd was effective marketing though because quite a few of the moms had full arms as they made it to the front.   I was not one of them.

When I was four, I was more the kind of kid who liked mud than sparkles.

I had a dump truck and liked to pick up worms.   In fact, the story goes that one time my mother came outside where I was sitting in the mud holding up a worm above my mouth and preparing to swallow it. She hollered.  I dropped it.

I have a confession.  My daughter is better at walking in heals than I am.

We read a lot of Fancy Nancy books.   I like the vocabulary.  She likes the   sparkle.    We read Pinkalicious and Purplelicious although I do think that  particular littly missy has an attitude problem most of the time.    When we  read it we yell out every time that we think Pinkalicious should go to timeout.   But again, it does sparkle.

I think my daughter has rubbed off on me a bit.   Guess what I wanted and  got for Christmas?   Jeans with sparkles on the buns.    My mother bought  them for me.   Something about being a mom must make you want to see  your girls shine.

The good news is that I think I’ve rubbed off on my daughter as well.    She was still wearing her tutu when we stopped by my friend’s house.   In the front yard was a kid’s lawnmower.

She got down to business and made her mom proud.   Nothing better than yard work in a tutu.  It makes me want to wear heals next time I tackle the neighbor’s blackberry bushes.

There is something about living a life with a variety of interests.   It’s fun to keep people on their toes.

Are you bored this January?    Wear some sparkle. Play in some mud.

Renaissance woman

n.

A woman who has broad intellectual interests and is accomplished in areas of both the arts and the sciences.

Like ballet and yard care.    That’s my girl.