Monday, September 19, 2005

it's worse than I thought

DD was invited to a fancy dress-up birthday party by one of her classmates, at Mrs. Pott's Tea Party in Mesa. It's the kind of party where the girls get to pick a dress from a huge selection, and they get their hair and make-up done, too. They also get to pick out bracelets, clip-on earrings, necklaces, all that stuff, and short or long gloves.

After doing the whole dress-up thing, they had a tea party, including an etiquette lesson, and got to eat things like sandwiches with no crust on them. They didn't drink real tea, they just pretended their fruit punch or lemonade was tea, and enjoyed very much being little ladies, with the staff dressed as English maids. The interior dining room walls were faux-painted to look like a castle, and teacups were everywhere, even the chandeliers were teacups! Both the setting and the staff were lovely, and the birthday cake was especially delicious. It was really a lovely party.

So, what's worse than I thought? DD's girlie-girl thing. Examples:

1. The girls were asked to wear dressy shoes. DD has some cute black Mary Jane-type shoes, and I expected her to wear them. But no, she came downstairs in her sparkly shoes that must be at least a whole size too small. I quizzed her: are they hurting your feet? No, Mom. Are your toes squished? No, Mom. Of course when we were leaving the party I noticed she was walking as if her feet were killing her, so I had her take the shoes off in the car on the way home. For the record: yes, she was willing to wear shoes that were much too small, just because they looked a certain way.

2. She chose big, square fake sapphire earrings, with a border of rhinestones, and a matching multi-strand pearl necklace with fake sapphire and rhinestone clasp. At one point she pointed to an earring and said, "These hurt," she paused for a moment, "but I don't care, because they're pretty."

3. Final, and most conclusive evidence. All the other little girl chose dresses that were pastel and cute. Take a look at DD in the dress she chose. To get the full effect, you might need to appreciate this view.

Now do you see what I mean, it's worse than I thought?

2 comments:

Joan said...

The complaint is that she is growing up too fast! She is only 6, although she will be 7 soon. I don't mind her being a girlie-girl, I just want her to stay a GIRL as long as possible. Right now she's almost-7-going-on-25.

And yes, she did carry that dress remarkably well. She has poise.

I foresee difficulties in high school when all her brothers' friends develop crushes on her...

nina said...

Fact is, I find her more sophisticated and having a greater sense of style than the others. She simply has better taste. This will serve her well. Worry not. She looks like she knows exactly what she's doing. It's great when they don't have this feeling of desperation about them.