When did that happen?

Last weekend, Rebecca and I braved the crowds and visited the mall to search for a dress, shoes and jewelry that she would find acceptable for my parent's 50th wedding celebration. Rebecca knew she wanted a RED dress. Not black, not pink, not purple....bright RED. OK, I mused, we'll look for a red dress.

Surprisingly, we found one! AND it was half price! It is long, simple, elegant and redder than RED! Next, we needed to find some shoes. THAT would be much harder task since Rebecca is plagued with the same affliction as me: Big Feet. But before we moved on to that hunt, we decided we needed food, so we stopped for a burger and fries. As I'm sitting next to Rebecca at the food court, I listen to her school experiences and dreams of becoming the world's best trombone player. She tells me about the Harry Potter movie and how much she enjoyed it. She laughs as she describes her heavy-set teacher and how she dresses. She gives me advice on what we need to do with youth ministry at the church and what she likes most about being on the basketball team. As I sit there and listen to her, it struck me..... she had grown up on me when I wasn't looking. People told me that kids grow up quickly, but I didn't really believe them. When did she get so smart? and tall? and funny? and confident? and beautiful? At the ripe age of 13, I trust her to get things done better than many adults I know. She's more FUN to be with than most adults and I find that I prefer her company more than anyone else's---with the exception of my husband. I love my daughter and all her funny quirks...

Sigh.

We moved on to the task before us. Rebecca found some silver shoes, size 11 that matched her RED dress nicely. We were both surprised with the ease at which she was able to walk in the 1 1/2 inch heels. "Let's go with these mom....can I go look at the tennis shoes?" I said, " Go for it... I'm going to try on your sliver shoes."

At the end of the night, we realized that our shopping trip was successful:

Red Dress: $40.00

Burger and Fries: $9.00

Silver Shoes: $29.00

Realizing that you and your daughter can SHARE shoes: priceless!