I am SO in trouble...

Lu is 4.  Almost 5.  And I am in BIG trouble.  B-I-G.

She is a girly girl.  Loves all things purple, pink, turquoise and sparkly.  She will NOT wear jeans, she will also not wear a darling pair of shoes because the liner came out and well, she just doesn't like that.  She will however, wear stretch pants and skirts.  She will not let me brush her almost waist-length hair very often, and doesn't like to have her hair done in the various ways I love to do it.

She also will not let me dress her.  Unless she approves.  Then it's fine.

I have a good friend with 3 girls.  She told me once her middle girl is always lagging behind getting out of the van.  Then she found out it's "because the Princess always goes last."  Her girl and mine are cut from the same cloth.

Crap, I am in trouble.

When she dresses herself, sometimes it's not what I would have picked but it's tolerable.  Other times...it's just plain bad.  We were all out together on one of these times.  J came and walked by me and asked if Lu ever lets me dress her.  I laughed, (snorted actually) and told him no.  He then asked me to "PLEASE, try to get her to let you.  She looks like nobody cares about her and it's embarrassing!!"

Shortly thereafter my husband asked if she was growing out of her clothes, which she is.  She has a bit of belly shirts and bum cheeks going on.  I hesitate to get her anything on the fly because she's so darn picky + clothes are spendy + it takes time. But we concurred that Lu needs some new clothes and that what I get pretty much has to go with everything else I get.  That way she should always match decently.  Now I'm on the hunt.  We stopped in a clothing section and I got a pretty good idea of what she would have picked had we been able to buy out the whole store.

I sew.  I love to sew, and I'm pretty good at it.  The other night I picked up some really cute material to make her a skirt.  I showed her and she was so excited!  And I was excited!  It went together quick but when I was done she wouldn't have a thing to do with it.  Zip-zero-nada.

WHAT?!

I flashed back to my mom sewing for me when I was little and how much I loved some of those clothes.  Then I flashed back to the clothes she made that I didn't love and my heart sank.  Partly for what my mom must have felt when I turned my nose up at her creations.  Partly because I could relate to her getting annoyed with me when I did.

Then I realized maybe if she saw some of the ideas I'd seen on the web, maybe she'd be more excited.  We looked over a few and she softened a teeny bit.  So I put the skirt over my shoulder and closed the cabinet and huffed back to her room to put her to bed.  I was really annoyed.

I felt bad.  For myself and for her because she knew I was mad.  And she doesn't like that very much.  I want her to always feel like she can be honest with me.  I don't want to manipulate her to get what I want.

So instead of sulking more, I pretended I was wearing the skirt and pulled out a shirt to go with it.  She smiled and said, "No".  I pulled out another one, and she shook her head, "Uh-uh."  I said, "Well, what if we find a shirt you like to go with this new skirt, will you wear it then?"

Then she turned into a shark.  This girl is amazing and determined and I see great things in her future.  And I am still in trouble.

She pointed her finger at me and said, "I have a deal for you, Mom.  If you buy me a blue shirt that sparkles."  (I happen to know the one she's referring to, and it is really cute.)

I said, "Hmmm, I think I know the one you mean.  Your'e saying if I get you that shirt, you'll wear this skirt, for sure??"

She smiled, raised one eyebrow, and said, "Yep, that's the deal."

Big trouble, I tell ya.  BIG.