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Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Too Cool for School

This week we had rain.  So, being the good mom that I am, I made sure that everyone had an umbrella in their backpack.  (I will pause here for nods of approval.  Thank you.)  #3 informed me that she needed a new one.  "Is yours broken?" I asked.  "No.  ...  But Mo-om!  It's Hello Kitty."


#3 is in the fourth grade this year.  She'll be 10 in January.  And I guess this is the age when little girls start to want to grow up, disassociate themselves from their baby-ish interests of the past.  It's interesting to watch.  Because it's not as if the girls suddenly find little-kid things unappealing.  It's just that they believe they will not be cool if such a penchant is made public.  So every girl in 4th and 5th grade puts on the too-cool show for all the rest.  My theory is that if they all knew that every one else still liked Barbies and baby dolls and Polly Pockets and My Little Pony, they'd all be a lot happier.  But no one wants to be the first to admit it.

... until about eighth grade or so.  Then all things "little-kid" are suddenly not only cool, but verging on retro-chic.  The girls have established their maturity by this point, and now are willing to indulge in reliving the good old days of their youth, way back four or five years ago.  To this level of self-confidence #2 has finally arrived.  Of course, she and #1 had an advantage over #3 even during their too-cool phase.  They had a younger sister they could "have" to play with.  Even #2s friends would be so kind as to humor #3 with little-kid play when at our house.  Poor #3 only has a little brother, and as her interest in Star Wars and Legos is severely limited, she's just forced to play it cool for a while.  

Now a very generic, very mature striped umbrella sits in #3s backpack.  And on #2s cut shin is slapped a Hello Kitty Band-Aid.

Me, I'm digging Star Wars chat with #4.

PHOTOS--   top left:  #3 at age 3 with Strawberry Shortcake
bottom right: #3 at age 9 with the big girls

8 fishy comments:

Kristina P. said...

Ahhhh, the jr high years. Fun times!

Lara Neves said...

I'm kind of hating the 4th grade stage, personally. I'm sure I admitted to liking Barbies still when I was in 4th grade? Maybe not. It just makes me kind of sad to see her grow up. I'm glad that there is a retro-chic time, though. Whew.

Annette Lyon said...

You're right--my girls ARE doing that very thing--it's suddenly taboo to like something, but three years later, it's okay again, because they're all grown up and it's a walk down memory lane. Okay, then.

My daughter loves junior high, and she's doing great in all her classes. It's the hormones and attitude I could do without.

Lisa said...

My daughter is in 6th grade and hasn't left the Polly pocket stage. I love that! Kids today want to grow up way too fast, then when we are older, we wish we were younger. It is just a vicious cycle...

Goob said...

you are SO on target with this!

Cajoh said...

Looks like you got the tween and teen thing down to a science…

I had an older sister who was 5 years older, so there wasn't much that we did together.

Love the fact you talk Star Wars with #4.

Good luck with handling the little-big girls.

mCat said...

Isn't it funny when they decide what is no longer cool for them?
Very funny!

rachel said...

I will still sit down and play Barbies...did I just admit that? A child must be present too, of course!
This is sooo true :)