la fashionista

L has always had a strong sense of what she considers fashionable and I’ve tried to allow her to express herself through her appearance. I don’t always understand or agree, but I like that she has the confidence to do her own thing. Here we have a statement in black and pink. She’s gone with the black leggings and a tank, black & pink flip flops, accessorizing with a black belt , and the always stylish black fingerless skeleton gloves.

She again lobbied for a cell phone, while we were doing our nightly chores in the herbivore room. I pointed out that she didn’t need a cell phone, as she’s always with someone who has one. She countered that she needed one to call her friends. I pointed out that she could do that now with our home phone. I was then educated to the fact that it isn’t cool to call friends on a regular phone. I told her they didn’t have to know it was a regular phone rather than a cell. She then dropped the knowledge that she really needs a cell phone so she can text her friends. Texting is really the only cool way to talk to friends.

After our bedtime reading, she decided to bring up a new topic. This involved in-depth questioning as to the mechanics of tampons and mooncups…(how do they stay in and not end up floating around inside?; where does the blood go?; etc.) one question after another. I pulled out the items and gave an impromptu tutorial on how they both work. You can’t properly comprehend a tampon without seeing it in action, though, so I opened one and stuck it in a glass of water. I flashed back to being about the same age, learning similar things (no mooncups, though) at a “menstrual tea”. Seriously, it was called that at my private school. Anyway, she reacted that same as we did at our tea, when we dipped a tampon into a glass of punch—a giggled, “grooossss.”

Then she asked the question I hoped she wouldn’t yet, because I knew the terror that would strike her if I answered honestly. L: “How do I know when my first bleeding time is coming?” Me: “Uh, you don’t.” (Wait for the full impact of the statement to sink in… there we go…the expression of horror I knew would be coming). “But at least your homeschooled, so you won’t have to spend every day of your adolescence in fear of a humiliating school experience.” I don’t think she found my optimism helpful. What can I say, though? “It’s only the first of many humiliating and inconvenient experiences of womanhood you will survive.” I think I’ll save that little bomb to drop on her during our next deep womanly conversation.

She also came to me with a proposition to switch names with Delila (our cat), because she likes the name Delila better than Luciana. I told her it would be too confusing for Lila, but maybe we could discuss it after Lila passes on.