Say Yes to the Dress

Today was back to school shopping day for Molly. [It was her year.  When you have four then they each take a year. ] In the past [like last year...or last month] Molly typically picks out the same things: tshirts, shorts, jeans, and tennis shoes.  Actually getting her to pick out a dress to wear for Easter usually end up in some sort of "heated discussion".  She is an athlete and not very prissy so she likes to dress simple. As her mom, I pick and choose my battles.  If there is a situation where I think she should dress up then I let her know - does she always agree?  That would be a big fat NO! 

Yesterday her Nana wanted to take her shopping.  Nana likes to take her to Northlake and Molly is glad to oblige her.  We ended up at Belk first because Molly found some clothes in Shelby last week and wanted to look .  Now this is actually a feat in and of itself: The girl usually snarls her nose at Belk [my FAVORITE store]. She found a few shirts [none of them t-shirts] and then [*DRUM ROLL*] she headed to the dresses.  [Honestly, I was about to call 911 to report the kidnapping of my daughter for a replacement daughter until I realized she was, in fact, willingly choosing dresses to try on.]  She picked a few, my mom picked a few, I picked a few [hey, better take it while we've got it otherwise this might the last dress we get her try on forever a while] and she took the ALL to try on.

Bless her...she wasn't sure how some of them "worked" [didn't realize it was tough to try on a dress but she figured out a way to make it tough].  One of them, cute as could be, had a very large belt in the middle.  My daughter [the honors student] pulled the dress over her head [without unfastening the belt] then wondered why she couldn't get the dress on all the way.  "Honey, undo the clasp on the belt in the front." She didn't know there was a clasp on the belt.  The next dress had tie on the side but Molly's version of the tie was this random piece of fabric hanging down the side of the dress.  "Honey, you know that goes around your waste and ties on the side don't you?"  No..no...she didn't know.  We laughed so hard at her in the dressing room.

So I had to ask the question: What in the world has gotten in to you that makes you want to wear a dress?  Her reply?  "Well my friends pick on me because I don't dress up enough so its really just to spite them."  Hmmmmm...good reason I guess.  "And, after softball camp at Carolina I realized that girls that play softball in college are actually very prissy and dress super nice.  I don't have to always look like a bum.  I don't want people to think I don't know how to dress up." Hmmm.....well another good reason. The next statement [which nearly sent me to my knees] went something like this, "These dresses are all dress code so I can even wear them to school."  Holy cow Batman!  Did she just say the words "dress" and "wear" and "school" in the same sentence?  This from the same chick who wore her "Vote for Pedro" shirt in a school picture one time?  Wow. 

It was a wonderful shopping trip with Nana, Molly, and Emma.  My girls [all of my children] are growing up so fast.  I really cherish these times when we can laugh and giggle because I know, that all too soon, they will grow up and have their own lives.  Molly and I have prom to look forward to this year [which will probably be an adventure] and hopefully, many more shopping trips together.

Tonight we had the opportunity to see Mercy Me and Jamie Grace, right here in Shelby. What a blessing to hear 10,000 people sing praises in the name of Jesus.  We were very thankful to a good friend for the free tickets and the fellowship with those who joined us.  The Shorties are truly blessed. 

Coop and Madison ♥

Molly and her biffles

Emma and her daddy ♥

I do have a simple prayer request for myself.  I am mom to some amazing children [yes they are amazing to me] and I love, love, love them with all my heart.  However, I don't want to "interfere" too much because that isn't healthy.  I posted several weeks ago about praying for the man that Molly will one day marry.  I think it is important that I pray now because that will be a very important decision [MANY years from now] for her one day.  I have watched her grow as a Christian and a God girl over this last year and I am so proud of the woman she is becoming.  My prayer request is that I can deal with the things that happen in between now and then, when she gets her heart broken.  She is strong, she is grounded in her faith, and above all else, she refuses to let others dictate how she feels about herself.  

I found a sign [on Pinterest] that said something to the effect that if you mess with my kids you'll see 7 different kinds of crazy.  You will.