Health & Fitness
I AM THE MOM.
I AM THE MOM. I go to the bathroom and look in the mirror and I am frustrated. Then I remember I AM THE MOM. Which offers me no solace whatsoever. Super. So, earlier today I’m in Nordstrom with my daughter and she picks up these sandals with a platform and a heel at least four inches high. “Mom, can I get these?” My body starts to tense and I can feel the argument brewing. Soon it will hit me full force! I look around and wonder if I can get a glass of wine or a shot of whiskey to make this conversation that I have already had at least a thousand times more bearable. I try to breathe through it to quell the anger that I know is going to consume me if I don’t make a real effort to keep it contained. I begin, “Zoe. Why do you keep asking me if you can wear stilletos? You already know the answer. NO. They are not appropriate for 12 year old girls. I don’t even wear shoes like that.” Then I begin thinking…..I really need to get out to more places where I can wear shoes like that! OK, OK, I am getting off topic. I tell myself to focus. And, then it comes. “MOOOOOOMMMM! Everyone else wears these shoes! You should see the heels Jordan, Bethy, Sophie, Sara, etc….wears!!!!” OMG!! Why can’t I wear them too???” And then she takes out her cell phone and shows me pictures of these girls’ shoes. And, sure enough, many of them actually do look like the shoe she is dangling in front of my face! “Zoe, are you kidding me? It’s not appropriate for a 12 year old girl to go marching around in 5-inch heels? What are you going to wear when you’re 14, 16, 18, 20 years old? HUH? Tell me. Where do you go from here?” And then I begin to tune her out because I have heard all of this before and I cannot handle the barrage of “why’s and how come their mom’s let them wear heels and why am I so mean” that is sure to follow. And that brings me to my very first blog post. I have put it off because I knew this issue was going to come up and I know that it’s going to be a hot button issue. So, I ask all of you moms of 12 year old girls out there. Even 13 year old girls….please tell me why you let your daughters go out in 4 and 5 and 6 inch heels? Why? Is this a message they should be sending? In fact, what is the message? I still see a little, curly-haired, giggling girl looking at me teetering around in my heels. I realize she is now 12 years old, but 12 years old is hardly grown up. Am I wrong about this? Should I seriously be sharing my heels with my 12 year old? I am asking all of you moms (and dads) out there to speak up and be heard. Can we all band together and just say NO?! I have tried to be reasonable, I have tried to put myself in her position and, believe me, I am no prude. In fact, I would venture to say that I am the least prudish mom that I know. In fact, I’m a little bit outrageous. I say lots of crazy, inappropriate things to my girlfriends and to some of my guy friends as well. I have Eminem and Rihanna on my playlists. I am not a prude. But, the thought of my 12 year old daughter marching around in 5-inch platform heels is just something I am not comfortable with. Are you?