The time has come

I can no longer shop at Children’s Place.  Or Gymboree.  Or even the little kid section at Target.

Julie’s built differently from her older sister.  Jessie was shorter, she fit in her age clothes from the time she was tiny.  When she was four months old, she fit into 3-6 months.  When she was seven years old, she was in size 6-8 clothes.

My Julianna Ruth is stunningly beautiful, and taller than almost every kid in her class.  She’s easily a full head and a half taller than her two best friends.  She’s got the same shoulders as her two oldest sisters, built taller and bigger.  She’s not overweight, she’s just bigger.  And she’s out of clothes.

Each morning this week has been a struggle to get her dressed, and at first, I blamed myself.  Clearly, I had fallen behind in laundry, maybe there were clothes that under her bed.  There must be clothes, somewhere, right?

There aren’t.  She’s just outgrown everything.

So – off the mall I went.  There are few places I dislike more than the mall, and the mall two weeks before Christmas is even less fun, but off I went.  Only to discover that suddenly, after fifteen years of parenting – I could no longer shop at my favorite stores.  Not that I shopped there very often, I’m the queen of hand me downs, and more often than not, I’m at Target or Walmart for clothes.  But I had always felt like I COULD go to Children’s Place or Gymboree, and I’m unbelievably sad that this time in my life is over.

I think both my girls are gorgeous and I wouldn’t change either one of them.  But if I could have switched their growth pattern, I feel like I would have adjusted better.  Julie’s only eight years old – it seems incredibly unfair that I’ve been shoved into the junior section when she’s still so young.

I was going to write that I miss having little kids – but the reality is that I DO still have a little one.  Eight is not the same as thirteen or fourteen – which is how old her sister was when I started shopping in the junior section for her.   It’s hard to find age-appropriate clothes for a little girl who still likes to rock a unicorn t-shirt.