Darling Daughter!

Every parent at one time or another has gone through the horror of seeing just what their kids want to wear to school, a party or just to the shopping mall. In some homes, this is a constant struggle. There were a few times that I questioned their choices but I did not have a lot of worry with my kids.  They were great kids and held a decent amount of respect for themselves..they still do.  Their clothing depicted that respect....most of the time!  My oldest son, Mark, liked clothes and wore what was in style.  The youngest, Michael wore (and still wears) more or less "uniform" of blue jeans and a black t-shirt.  Darling Daughter, Elizabeth, though...was adventurous to say the least!  Most of the time, she did not follow trends...she set the trends.  She liked to try new things and if she could not find what she wanted, she sewed it.  That started as far back as kindergarten when my Mom decided to teach Elizabeth to sew.  Grandma helped her to make her first outfit and that set a wave of creativity into motion! I gave her my sewing machine and from that point on, she created! I could sometimes hear the sewing machine going well into the night when an idea struck her.  Which was good!  I was happy!  Her clothing choices were wonderfully funky and fun but always decent!  What more could a mother ask?  

Then there were times when that creativity went a little haywire!  The clothing became wild and crazy!  And I questioned her about it!  I found a pair of jeans that she "decorated" back years ago.  To be truthful here, these were for one of the fun days of Homecoming Week at the junior high school or some play in which she was performing.  I cannot remember just which event caused her to decorate her jeans but she sewed on patches, attached buttons and trims...and painted!  In some places that paint is so thick that the jeans cannot bend!  How in the world she ever walked around or sat down in these things is beyond me!  Still, if there was ever a time that I would have questioned my daughter's taste in clothing, it would have been most likely when she wore these.  I am just glad they were a temporary costume and not some permanent addition to her wardrobe!

The jeans were stowed away in one of the cedar chests along with a few other "memories" from  her school days.  They were carefully folded and placed in a plastic bag for safekeeping. Why?  I have no idea!  But when I opened the cedar chest, there they were!  Ahhh...memories!  Ughhh!  I tried to pull the jeans out of the bag only to find that the paint had not only stuck the jeans together in a nice wad, it also stuck the plastic bag to the denim!  The globs of paint acted like glue!  Pulling them apart sounded like I was ripping duct tape off of something...scrackkkkk...scrackkk!  After photographing them and sending her the pictures, I thought of tossing them but then a thought struck me!  Perhaps I should carefully fold them, wrap them in another bag and place them back in the cedar chest.  Why, may you ask?  Why would I keep these paint-glob-laden jeans? Aha!  Some day when Darling Daughter, Elizabeth has a teenage daughter and is questioning her outfits...I could be the doting grandmother!  I could slip these jeans out of the cedar chest and proudly ask Elizabeth if she remembers them!  Then we would all fall into a fit of giggles and the stressful situation involving a teenage girl's clothing choices would be solved!  Geez, I am thankful that these jeans were the worst of Elizabeth's fads!  Actually, I am just thankful for Elizabeth!