Back to School

The kids go back next week.  I have already started back, but I can hardly wait until they get on the bus that first day.  I may literally spend the entire morning sitting on my patio drinking coffee, ALONE.

I know that may sound a bit...ummm...selfish?  Heartless?  Anticipatory?  But, trust me, you would understand if you went through the back-to-school shopping I have been through.  It's just too much this year.

See, my older two kids (and to a lesser extent, my youngest) have gone through massive growth spurts in the last year or so (mostly over summer) and unfortunately, they no longer fit into 'kid sizes'.

Oh, kid sizes, I do miss you so.  When my kids were 5, they wore a size five perfectly.  When they were 8, it was the same,  9 meant a size ten, but you get the picture.

Now the poor kids are going into the dreaded adult sizes, where you have to try everything on to make sure the manufacturers are not bat - sh!t crazy in their sizing.  The worst is Madison, because she has to contend with juniors vs. women's sizes.  Like her mama, even though she is not yet to her middle school growth spurt (this winter I bet) she seems to be skipping junior sizes all together.

It's the pain and suffering that comes from a curvy body, child-bearing hips and well, the infamous "Butler" butt.  Plus, she is at the point where she is ready for the growth spurt but has not hit it, so she still has that baby-fat around the middle. Poor thing.

But really, why is it so difficult to go through the natural changes a body must make facing ridicule and teasing because she is not a naturally stick-thin person, and never, ever will be. I hate that about society, that we make young girls feel badly about themselves to such impossible levels, it's hard to keep a handle on it, no matter how much you tell your daughter, "You are perfect just the way you are, and don't listen to those at school that say bad things."

It's tough as a mother.  Because on the one hand, I want to protect her for all of the crap, but I know kids in middle school and high school especially are cruel.  On the other hand, teaching her that dessert every night may not be the way to go about things is also tough, because I don't want to be the one to give her that complex. 

At least she has a ready set pile of fabulous accessories since her mama makes jewelry, right?