Accelerated Growing Up

I think that Kate has changed very little physically during the past couple of years with one exception and that is her newly developed love for wearing Black clothes. This is just the end result of living in New York with a mother who wears black more than any other color.

However in the space of about two weeks it seems to me that Kate has CHANGED. Big Time. A late birthday present allowed her to have her ears pierced at Spa De Da which made her look older and she was interested in watching herself in any and all mirrors. Then she cut her hair from a straggily down her back do to a short shoulder length bob which gave her a decided air of sophistication. Follow that with a trip to the Dentist for braces which I gather are something of a status symbol. A nusinace but statusy all the same. And since Kate has finally taken responsibility for her second pair of glasses, she wears them all the time. The first pair remained in her possession for two weeks and bit the dust somewhere in Maine.

Last night she and Arnie went out for one of their Japanese Daddy Daughter dinners and Kate looked sensational. She also spent a great deal of time preparing for this evening out. She wore a gorgeous black dress, hand me down from Maggie Gibson, put on pearl earrings, ditched her glasses, applied lip gloss and eye make up judiciously and then tried to slip into her party shoes. No dice. Her feet have grown so after a whole sale search in all of our closets, I sent her off wearing a pair of my black not so high slingbacks which were too big but not so big that she couldn't shuffle for 3 blocks to the restaurant. I also wrapped her in a shawl so that she would remaine elegant and not freeze in the September air.

So, she's changed physically and emotionally. The other day she couldn't even figure out why she was such a wretch which made me smile because I was a truly hideous teenager and never understood why I could never do anything right. But now the eye rolling and slightly rude confrontations are beginning in earnest. I understand that it's part of the process but I hate it in the morning when I don't want ajida (sp) and incessant criticisms about how I do everything wrong. But when I talked about this with our house keeper Alice, she said that she always describes me as a West Indian mother who gives her child love but also sets limits and disciplines bad behavior. Made my day.