Okay, it’s back to school for the kids today. Unfortunately, we all overslept. I awoke to a knock at my door. My 17 year old daughter informed me that it was 7:00. I stumbled out of bed and up the stairs to wake the boys. My 11 & 12 year old boys got out of bed and fumbled for their clothes that they had set out the night before. After a few mumbles they were dressed and headed out the door. My daughter, on the other hand, wasn’t quite so amiable.
High School for a teenage girls is like a fashion show to models. There is something to be said for cleanliness but, some mistake cleanliness for perfection. My daughter should have been born a Virgo. She is a perfectionist. She expects way too much of herself and those around her. However, she doesn’t go overboard to the point that she feels better than everyone else. She just knows what she likes and she strives to be the best that she can be.
Needless to say, she spent the next hour getting ready for school. Once she was out of the shower, she spent the next 50 minutes blow drying her hair, making sure that every single strand of hair was absolutely straight (with the Chi hot iron I paid $140 for), make-up applied to perfection, jeans clean with holes in just the right places, her pet bird fed and watered, book bag together, and whatever else it usually takes her 2 hours to do. Hey, this is a record time for her. Maybe she should wake up late every morning. All of this just to go to school to learn.
“School is not a fashion show.” That is my mantra every morning. But, alas, I waste my breath. For my words fall on deaf ears. Or, at least, half deaf ears. The poor child has an ear infection in one ear and has lost some of her hearing. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow. I guess there’s no crime in wanting to look your best. She gets excellent grades and looks good too.
