My mom was born a shopper. She's a natural. She can keep up with the best of 'em and not even break a sweat. I, on the other hand was drug into it... kicking and screaming. As a child I hated shopping. (I was a total disappointment)lol. My mom, in her younger day, would not just shop til you drop, but would shop at such a fast, harried rate that Jillian Michaels would have begged for mercy. She loved to shop for herself, but even more than that, she loves to shop for other people. I remember as a child, before school would start (elementary) she would take me for the annual, back to school shopping. I would moan, whine, cry, wail, and generally be a little toot. I HATED shopping. As I got older, the shopping experience became... well, worse. Because, Dear reader... I know you're not going to believe this, but as I got into teenagerdom, I became opinionated, willful and incredibly stubborn. Shopping for clothes, was not just not fun, it boardered on warfare. My mom, bless her heart, would want me to wear the cutest outfits (ok, cute by her standards) that matched with matching shoes and accessories. As she would hold up the outfit for me to see, I would look at her, hand on my hip, disgusted expression on my face, roll my eyes and say, "EEEWW, I'm NOT gonna wear that." I, wanted to wear all black. I wanted to be in jeans 24/7, flannel shirts, and doc martens. (It was grunge days, people) My mom would say, jeans are for workers, and oh my gosh, those doc martens are the UGLIEST things I've ever seen. (Mark has a pair he still wears and mom comments on his UGLY shoes everytime!) lol. My mom, would give me "the look" and say... "Christi, just try it on... you won't know how it looks til you try it!." Now, usually these shopping escapades would end up with both of us very mad at each other, a smattering of loaded nastiness, that always came to her saying... "I hope when you get older you have a child that acts just like you". And that curse works, because I did.

Kirsten, took after my mom. She can shop with the best of them. She LOVES to shop. She'll do it all day, and tell you it's her best day ever. At Christmas time, when I was always hoping against hope there would be no clothes, just electronics and cd's, Kirsten begs for clothes, shoes, make-up and jewelry. Kirsten will go to the mall and after 6 hours of non-stop shopping where I am begging to go home, she's saying, "just one more store mom!" She's so UNLIKE me in this area, that alot of times, I just stare open mouthed at how the shopping gene skipped a generation. (kind of like the twins gene) This is where our differences end, and the curse plays out. Imagine this dear reader... Kirsten is opinoinated, willful and incredibly stubborn. (Man, she's gonna make someone a good mom someday! LOL) I like to think I'm fashionably hip...(those of you who know me, stop laughing... I mean it!) but I'm not. I hold up some cute little outfit and Kirsten looks at me... hand on her hip, disgusted expression on her face, rolls her eyes, (I don't know where she gets this stuff) and says, "EEEWWW, I am NOT gonna wear that." I try not to, I swear I do, but I give her "the look" and say, "Kirsten, just try it on... you won't know how it looks til you try it!."

This is what happened last night. Kirsten wants a new dress to wear for Solo and Ensemble tomorrow. She tells me yesterday morning she needs this. So, I take her to Kohl's to try on dresses. None of them meet her specifications. But I find this really cute dress that is black with white pinstripes. It's totally stylish and has a black belt around the middle accentuating her cute little figure. (I would wear it... If I looked like that.) She doesn't like it, doesn' want to try it on, and finally after I make her try it on... and by the way, she looked GOOD in it. She looks at me, and says... "I look like a prisoner, mom!!"

I look over at my mom, who is standing on the other side of Kirsten, and I catch her expression in the mirror. She's smiling. She's smiling the smile of a mother who is finally seeing her curse play out...and she's loving every minute of it. So tonight I realized... I have to let her wear what she wants... (within reason) and try not to fight about it. Cause what comes around goes around... and she's gonna have a child that acts just like she does when it comes to shopping. It'll be 4th generation... God help her. And I, and God willing my mother will be there when she is trying to get her teenage daughter to wear something "cute". And in the mirror, she'll see us smiling... =)