Head Over Heels

It totally happened yesterday. I turned into my mother.

Don’t get me wrong, my mom is a great person. I’m crazy about her and now that I’m all grown up, she is not only my mom, but one of my best friends as well.

Still...

Yesterday we went on a shopping spree to a mall the size of Montana in search of Homecoming dresses for my two oldest daughters. Homecoming is this Saturday and there’s nothing quite like waiting ‘til the last minute to do these things. We didn’t wait on purpose, this really was the first opportunity we’ve had to go shopping.

After hiking 30 or so miles through the mall, we finally found dresses that fit, weren’t too revealing and were acceptable colors to the girls. Great! Well, it was great until it came time to accessorize and buy shoes.

That’s when I turned into my mother.

My oldest daughter and I are the same height. 5’ 9”. In high school, that translates to very tall. A head taller than most of the girls and taller than the boy that asked you to Homecoming, that’s for sure.

We started to look at some shoes and Middle Daughter found a pair that she liked. Middle Daughter is only 5’ 3” so she doesn’t have the high heel, taller than the boys worry.

I asked Oldest Daughter if she found a pair of shoes and she replied she didn’t need them because she was just going to wear flip flops.

Flip flops?! Listen missy, I just dropped $130 on a dress and you’re going to wear flip-flops with it?

I didn’t exactly say that, but it sure did pop into my head.

I did say “That’s ridiculous. I’m sure your date won’t care that you are taller than he is.”

UGH!

My 5’ 5” mom used to say that to me when I would go on massive hunts to find flat dress shoes. It’s high school! Of course he cares and if he didn’t care, I sure as hell did!

But flip flops? There are so many cute flats, even dressy ones out there.

I got the much practiced teenage eyeroll. “Mom, you just take your shoes off at the dance anyway”.

Ok, I remember that, too...but what about the pictures!

“Don’t get my feet in them” she said.

Middle Daughter was picking out earrings and I asked Oldest Daughter if she would like a necklace to go with her dress. No, she said, she was going to wear one of those candy necklaces because the blue candy would be the perfect color.

Candy necklaces and flip flops? Good Lord.

My sister, who accompanied us on our shopping trip, just looked at me and said “head band”, recalling the argument I had with my mother about wearing one of those thin 80’s headbands with my gorgeous prom dress. My mom thought it looked “asinine”, I thought it looked totally awesome!

I shut up right then.

I had been in my daughter’s shoes at one and although they weren’t flip flops, they occasionally still fit, like when my wedding photographer asked me to take my heels off for some of the pictures.

Oldest Daughter's a good kid, sometimes even as sweet as the candy necklace she wants to wear and if she ever does give me headaches, I still have the headband to help ease the pain.