Wasn't once enough?

It's that time of year again, the one that brings sadness for some and elation for others, yes you guessed it, School is about to start again. For most of us weary moms who are out of ideas to entertain the kids we cannot wait for that first school bell to ring. The kids are another story, some are excited, some nervous and some downright terrified.
Before we can send them off for that glorious first day there is one more terrible task we must complete...Back to School Shopping and so the story begins.

Since RoRo is 10 now I try to let her embrace her inner fashionista. My main rule is as long as nothing is hanging out or being exposed I am pretty much o.k. with letting her pick her own clothes. I do however reserve the right to veto any outfit that I feel will cause her to get taunted or teased, it is after all my duty to protect her as much as possible and make sure she never ends up as a "Glamor Don't".

Last night as I sat in bed catching up on my Tivo and surfing the web she comes into the room and says to me "Mom, I would like to talk to you and show you some pictures of the type of outfits I would like this year for school, I am going to be a 5th grader and my tastes are changing."
So here I am thinking o.k. this shouldn't be too bad, last year she was a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. Oh how wrong I was, as she flipped through the pictures and pulled up the websites all I could think was oh my gawd, you have got to be kidding me, I have been sucked into an evil time transporting worm hole and been firmly deposited right back into the 80's.

First it was the Converse which I will admit are quite cute these days however, when I wore converse we bought them at Gibsons and got them because they were the only thing we could afford and they were always the tell tale sign that you were too poor to get anything else. Second it was neon colored jeans, seriously they were a bad idea the first time why oh why are they on the racks at all of the stores taunting or little girls and torturing those of us who managed to burn every picture we ever had that was evidence that we were slaves to fashion and wore them the first time around. Last but not least it was the plaid, it is everywhere, in every color imaginable in every store, in every catalog and on nearly every website.

Is this some kind of joke? Did the Fashion Powers that be decide to punish those of us who made these horrible fashions popular the first time around. I really don't think that I can in good conscience purchase these items. I know in 15 years when she is looking back through her photos she is going to give me that horrified look and ask " How could you not love me enough to convince me that I had no business wearing this stuff." This is something I am sure of because I too have recently asked my own mother this question. I love my daughter very much, enough that I think I will allow her to hate me for saying no to the horrible resurrection of 80's fashion. I am sure someday she will thank me for it.