The other day I read a friend’s Facebook post about how hard it was to find appropriate school clothes for her daughter; many styles that she found in the stores were too short, too revealing or just plain too grown.  My friend had many comments on her post from other frustrated moms.   I have found that since my daughter has crossed over into the tween size, it is even more difficult to find age-appropriate clothes; a ten year old should not wear the same fashions as a teen.   While my daughter likes to look fashionable, she is also still a little girl who plays hard.   She needs clothes that are cute, but also comfortable and durable.

Tea Collection fits all of our criteria.  Their designer children’s clothing is movable, playable and fashionable.  The new Modern Mexico collection is full of prints and graphics inspired by the vibrancy of Mexican culture.   I like it and my daughter likes it as well (sometimes it’s not so easy for us to agree on styles).  I let her pick out a few items online and this is what she chose:

The Amate Aves dress is perfect for school with leggings and Converse, but can also be worn to church with a pair of brown boots.

I like how the Bazaar de Flores Henley is casual, yet pretty.  My daughter wears it here with a pair of cropped jeans, but she could also wear it with a pretty skirt to Sunday brunch.

This green Happy Hoodie is my daughter’s new favorite shirt.   She could wear it alone or layered under a short-sleeved shirt or dress.  I also see her wearing it on the beach during our California trips.

As you can see, she looks adorable, but she’s able to move freely and play.  Most important to me, she looks like a ten year old.  The clothes fit perfectly, true to a size 10, but with some room to grow.   The prices are reasonable for the quality of fabric; I know that these clothes will last throughout the season and beyond.

*Full Disclosure: Tea Collection supplied me with a gift certificate to purchase clothes for the purpose of this review, but all opinions expressed are my own.

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Today I’m participating in Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop: 3.) It has been said that kids these days are pushed into too many extra-curricular activities and are not given the freedom to play and be bored and to use their imaginations. Is this true?

I dont’ know if this is universally true or not because I’m not all up in people’s business to know what their kids are doing after school, but I know that it’s not true of my kids.  I purposely do not put my kids in too many extra-curricular actives because:  A). I don’t like driving them to said activities and B.) I do think they need time to “be bored” and use their imagination.  Of course, this only happens if I restrict access to television and the computer.   But even during the summer months when they are mostly at home, they find things to do both inside and outside to keep themselves occupied.

In his downtime, my son has taught himself how to pay the acoustic guitar and keyboard.  He doesn’t read as much as he used to, but he has taken up reading Harry Potter to his sister, which means that the are spending time together as well.  I like that.

Both of my kids love to play with our puppy when they are at home; he’s like their own living stuffed animal.  When they are bored, they will pull out the Dog Tricks book and try to teach Chili Dawg a new trick.  Last week when we were snowed in, we taught him this trick:

My daughter is an artist and spends most of her free time creating.   She creates elaborate hairdos for her American Girl dolls, she makes friendship bracelets for everyone (even the dog) and draws for hours.  Here’s an art piece that she made from materials in the recycling bin:

One of her favorite made-up games is “Spa.”   Unfortunately for me this spa is more interested in planning and marketing than it is in the actual spa services; my foot rub lasts about 30 seconds. The creation of the spa is the most fun for my daughter: she creates an  elaborate menu of spa treatments, mixes up special lotion, fixes snacks, colors signs and even makes a credit card scanner.   The entire spa creation can take her several hours.   This was one of the ways that she kept herself busy during Snowmageddon 2011 last week.  And she sewed too.  She made pillows for everyone, a toy for Chili Dawg and this cover for my Apple keyboard.  It even has a velcro closure at the top.

See? Bored kids are creative kids!

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Being a mother is joyous.  And being a mother is heart-wrenching.  What’s that quote?  Something like, “it’s like having your heart walk around outside your body.”

A heart can get pretty abused that way.

The first time they don’t cry when you leave them with someone else.  The first time they drop your hand and run to catch up with a friend.  The first time they wax poetic about their favorite teacher/babysitter/other special adult with the same rapture that was previously reserved for you.

Your heart breaks, just a little, with each milestone of independence and each snip of the apron strings.  But you shake it off and solider on.  After all, isn’t this your job?  Aren’t you raising them to leave you one day?

At first it happens slowly in early childhood, with enough recovery time to adjust to this new level of parenting.  Get your wig on straight again.  But then during the teen years it’s a full blown assault.  Bam! Bam!  Bam!  There are new adjustments and negotiations that happen at an alarming rate.

At this time, you fully understand the phrase “with my heart in my mouth.”  It’s there so no one can hear you scream.

I’ve been the mother of a teen for a few years now and just like parenting a smaller child, it’s both joyous and heart-wrenching.  Sometimes within the same day.  But I roll with it.  I have learned to take the hugs when I can get them and not take it personal when I don’t.  I have learned to listen when he talks and not take it personal when he doesn’t.   Sometimes he wants to spend time with the family and sometimes he would rather be with friends.  I don’t take it personal.

That’s the key to being the mother of a teen and keeping your heart in tact–don’t take anything personal.

Except this.  This I am taking personal.

How can I not?

I’ve read the books out loud to him since he was 5 years old.  Every. Single. Book.  Even the last books when he was more than old enough to read on his own.

I’ve been to bookstore parties, played trivia games and bingo.

I’ve stood in line–at midnight–with hoards of other fanatics.

I’ve taken him to every movie.

I’ve bought every dvd and watched the movies again.  And again.

I admit, I’ve enjoyed reading the books as much as any kid and I am a fan even without my son, but I love that this was something that we experienced together.  His dad could not follow our long detailed conversations and nor did he try.  This was “our thing”–just us two–for over 10 years.

As I read the last page of the last book I was sad to have that time come to a close.  Yes, I would miss that world, but mostly I would miss sharing that world with my son.

But at least we still had the movie, the last movie, to extend that time together, right?

Wrong.

My son just informed me that he wants to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with friends.

“But” I said,  my voice sounding small, “that’s our thing.”

Let me say that I think kids should want to spend time with friends.  I encourage it.  It’s healthy and expected but how can he be okay seeing Harry Potter with anyone else but me?

“Sorry,” he said.

He didn’t sound sorry.

He sounded perfectly okay seeing Harry Potter with anyone except me.

Sure, I’ll see the movie.  Alone or with my husband who will keep asking questions because he didn’t read the books and knows nothing about Harry Potter, but will feel sorry for me.   Or maybe with my friend, a Harry Potter fan with children still too small to share her passion.

Either way, it won’t be the same without my son.

I get it; he’s growing, changing and finding his own way in the world.  Trying on who he wants to become.  I fully support that, but sometimes it’s hard to find common ground and I miss how close we used to be.  But at least we had Harry.  Harry and the Wizarding World was always an easy thing between us.

I know that we will be close again one day, when he feels that he’s himself enough to be mine again.  And we’ll find new interests to share.   But we’ll never have Harry again.  That bond is, sadly, prematurely, over.

Can someone please come take this knife–er, Gryffindor sword–out of my heart?

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Other posts about me & The Boy that you may like:

A Great Day With The Boy

*Just when I am burnt from blogging, I write from the heart and get an awesome response you, the Funkidivagirl.com community; thanks so much.  Also Blogher liked this post so much that they paid me to syndicate it on their blog!  Read it there and check out other great blog posts too.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

*Today I am participating in Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop by answering the prompt: 1.) A book (or tv show … or something) that you watched/loved as a kid, that you see through entirely different eyes as an adult/mom.

I LOVED Sesame Street as a kid, absolutely LOVED IT.  You know, back then we didn’t have 15,000 channels dedicated to children’s programming; PBS and few local stations were pretty much it.   As a child I felt that all the Sesame Street characters were my friends and I loved watching them sing, dance, joke and experience the same life joys and disappointments that I was experiencing.   It was funny and relevant.  Yes, it was educational and of course I learned as I watched, but as a child that didn’t matter to me; the interaction between the characters and with ME sitting at home resonated the most.

Eventually I grew out of watching Sesame Street and moved on to programming targeted to older children like Zoom and The Electric Company (until Melrose Place took the place of all that), but when I had children of my own, I was happy to see Sesame Street still on the air and even better than ever.   Watching it with my kids was like coming home to old friends; they were all still there–Ernie, Bert, Oscar, Big Bird, Grover, Cookie (except Mr. Hooper, God rest his soul)–but there were new characters as well.  That was cool; I welcomed Elmo and Zoe into my home with open arms (even though Elmo’s laugh is only tolerable but for so long.  This long: *squinching my fingers together about 1/8 of an inch*).

Sesame Street has always been a parental ally by teaching both social and academic skills on the show, but as an adult I noticed something about Sesame Street that I took for granted as a child: that there were people of color on there.   Human people like Gordon, Susan, David, Maria and Luis and also muppet “people” like Roosevelt Franklin (♫ Elementary School ♫….remember that little ditty?) were on the show from the very beginning.   I didn’t think much of it as a child because I lived in Chicago and my real world was diverse like that; in my child’s mind, everyone else’s world was just like mine.

As a parent I lament the lack of diversity in children’s programming (how come Hannah Montana doesn’t know any black people?  I know, I know; it’s Malibu.  But if she can pretend to be someone else just by changing her hair, then they can get some black people in Malibu), but Sesame Street has always made the show to represent ALL children.

And the show is still evolving; always willing to learn, expand and grow.  One of the most recent songs on Sesame Street has taken the show and social media world by storm; I Love My Hair was created by head writer Joe Mazzarino in response to his adopted Ethiopian s daughter’s comments about (not loving) her own hair.  If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out:

I count at least 12 different hairstyles that the little brown muppet girl is wearing in the video; a little brown human girl watching has got to identify with at least one of those hairstyles.  I think it’s wonderful that Sesame Street realizes the importance of affirming the unique beauty of ALL little girls.

Thank you Sesame Street for all that you were to me as a child and all that you continue to be for children everywhere.

P.S. It is one of my life’s dreams to be on Sesame Street.  If you know someone who can make that happen, please tell them about me. Just thought I will put it out there, because you never know; your cousin’s hairdresser’s aunt could be a producer on the show. Can’t you see me chilling on the neighborhood stoop?

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

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Other posts you may like about Sesame Street:

Kickin’ It Od School: Sesame Street Classics and Richard Pryor

Who Would Be My Roommate On Sesame Street

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

© 2010, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.