from the Juniors department

Tonight I accompanied Beth and Gracie on a shopping expedition. Gracie is eleven and needs new clothes almost weekly -- not that she wants them: she'd be fine in the jeans she wore last year and and the tee-shirt from 4th grade with the hot chocolate stain. Sooooooooooo, off to Belk's we went.

Gracie is indeed in that "in-between....tween" age where almost everything from the "girls" section is toooooo little kid, but everything from the Juniors section is too teenager or, worse, too college-girl-looking-for-a-fraternity-boy. It was hard to watch her -- awkward and for the most part uncaring -- try on clothes that, once she had them on, made her look like a young woman instead of the little kid I should always like her to remain. Such is life.

On a side note -- tonight we let Sadie (seven and high-spirited) attend a four hour Kids Night lock-in at Dacula Family Sports, whereupon she, taking exception to the attitudes of some older kids, proceeded to flip them off with her middle finger. Such is life.