My teenage daughter and I did some dress shopping for her this weekend. She has a couple of end-of-year awards ceremonies, her brother’s graduation and a tennis banquet to attend, and she needed some dressier clothes for the occasions. My daughter and I usually shop quite contentedly together. We never have any issues finding cute casual clothes for her that meet both of our approvals and time constraints. Dresses are a different story. We both HATE dress shopping.
Unfortunately, I could feel both of our negative energy stewing under the surface, as we headed out to look for the dresses. Our conversation was stilted and edgy, even as we both pretended to be excited for the outing. My daughter astutely reminded me that SHE had to feel good about the dress, so that she would feel confident and happy, at the above-mentioned events. I think the implication that I sometimes reach a frustration level and get a little demanding.
“JUST PICK SOMETHING!” has been known to come flying out of my mouth, in desperation, in a fitting room of the 43rd store that we have entered, in the “quest for a dress”. My daughter and I are really quite similar, in that we are both very clear on what we like and what we don’t like. The difference is, that I think I have a broader spectrum of “what I like.” She would say that I have a tendency to settle.
In the end, though, (may miracles never cease), we ended up with two lovely ensembles in just a few hours, without a nasty blow-up, tears from either of us and we didn’t even have to break the bank. We even had time for a nice mother/daughter, side-by-side pedicure, at which time we giggled about what it will be like when we go wedding dress shopping for her, some day. My daughter even suggested that we would make a perfect, hilarious duo for the TV show, “Say Yes To The Dress”, a TV show that surprisingly, we both enjoy watching together. I suppose that it is good to laugh at yourself, sometimes. This is easier to do, after you have found the perfect dress.
