Once upon a time...

I must say as a mom of a teenager growing into a young adult, it has become impossible to see eye to eye when shopping for clothes. I say tomato, she says toma-toe; I say no, she says why. I'm looking at her like, "You can't be serious!". Once upon a time, I remember I would go to the store, alone that is, choose what I thought was cute and knew she would love. I would get home and my thoughts were confirmed not only was she happy but, I could see in her eyes, "something for me" while running off to her room to try her stuff on.

I wasn't going to let this teenager get the best of me, I had a solution. I thought I would put my foot down, disregard her opinion and buy what I thought looked good; Ha, she showed me. The things I bought sat in the closet with tags on them, never worn and she would repeat the things that she coveted the most. Who showed who?

This is one of those life lessons where I had to yield to the growth process. I had to let her have an opinion and let her express herself, especially if it's not hurting her or anybody else. We believe we know what's best but, the reality is we have to listen to them, respect their opinion and let them be themselves. Needless to say, I'm still working on that.(pray for me)

Nonetheless, I managed to find the silver lining. I introduced Ms. "I don't like that" to the thrift store and let her look at all the great things available to her while showing her what I liked (still trying to have my way). At that moment it hit me, I'd rather spend $4 for a shirt then $24 for a shirt she's never going to wear. If you have to let go, the thrift store is a great place to start.