Swim Suit Season

What is up with today’s young ladies fashions? I have read several things about if you let your toddler wear a bikini you are a horrible mother. My question is, what if you are a mom of a tween? Tweens are at the age of puberty. Every thing about their bodies are changing for them. So let us make it harder and throw swim suit season in. This time of year, all you see are skimpy little tops and bottoms. The girls wanting to find just the right suit and the mom’s cringing at everything they pick out. I, for one, just experienced this.

Oldest had been wanting a new bathing suit. She hasn’t had one for a few years now. Whenever she gets to go in swimming, she wears shorts and a tank top. Her dad likes it this way, she is covered up and no one gets hurt. But this year, she wants actual swim attire. We went up to Wal-Mart this past Wednesday and before we left she wanted to look at the suits. I was in the produce section right across so I let her go over by herself. She came back with a cute pair of swim trunks for girls, and a bikini top. Oh hell no, I thought. I collected my thoughts and spoke slowly. I tried to keep my words at a minimum, and my eyes in their sockets.  “NO!” “But mom” came out of her mouth. I told her there was no way I was going to let her take home that top. She grumped and groaned at me and then I told her that if she took that home, her dad would kill us both. She made her way back over to the suits and I finished up my shopping. She came back with another top this one was more like a shirt and she asked if she could go try it on. I said ok. By the time I made my way over to the clothes section she was done and she was in love with the shirt and shorts. I asked the normal questions, “Did they fit?” “Yes, they do, and the top comes down to here.” She pointed to her belly button. Ok sounds all right so I let her buy them.

We get home and she immediately runs in to try on the new outfit. Her dad and I was talking when she pops out of the bathroom. She was so excited to show us. Our mouths hit the floor. The top, which I thought was going to be at her navel, but wasn’t anywhere close. It was actually  snug on her and she had her shoulders bent in funny. Her dad immediately said no, she had to take it back. She asked why. He told her it didn’t fit right and he did not approve. She ran back into the bathroom. I knew I should have went in to that dressing room with her. Parenting fail on my part. She came out and was upset and mad and couldn’t figure out why we were saying no way. It is really hard sometimes to find the right words to explain why we don’t want her to wear such clothing. So I started off by saying, “For one, you are only 11, that top was made for an older girl, atleast 16.” “Two, it showed way, way, waaaayyy to much.”  Now, I don’t want her to be ashamed of her body, by all means. But she just doesn’t seem to get that even though she is not thinking about it, someone else may be. I told her I didn’t want anyone looking at her like that since she doesn’t look 11. She sulked around for awhile, and wanted to go back to return the top and get something else. I told her that we would get to it. It wasn’t a necessity to take it back right that minute.

She made plans to go over to her friends house tonight for a sleepover and asked me if we could take the top back, since there would be swimming involved.  Her dad and I talked about it, and I told her that she could wait on a new top and that she was just going to have to wear her tank top this time. We did let her keep the shorts.

At this point in my life, I think it would be easier to raise a boy.  🙂