Nine Inch Nails or NIN

No, not the musical group, but I must secretly confess to enjoying their music.

Moobear had a sleepover on Friday night at a friend's house. She had a great time, but came home Saturday afternoon with seriously long (fake) nails, makeup on (let's not forget the bright red lipstick) and interesting clothing (let's just say I could have fit her sister in the jeans she was wearing). The top she was wearing was one of those long flowing types that reminded me of Woodstock days gone by. Of course, she added to the effect by wearing a huge t-shirt underneath it, and adorning herself with beads, both around the neck and on her wrist. She completed the look with a colorful hair twist.

I consider myself a modern mother, and encourage my children to express themselves....to a point. This one pushed on the border of even what I consider to be a little over the edge. Suffice to say, when she asked me if she could go outside and play with Michael, I had to think fast. In retrospect, I felt that nothing she was wearing was too over-the-top. I was hoping that my neighbors would cue into the fact that this child of mine (whom I am absolutely convinced was switched at birth) was in dress-up mode. If that didn't work, I figure they'd take the attitude of: Well, what did you expect? They are from California, the land of the fruits and nuts!

So, I took current inventory on what I was dealing with:

1. Pants big enough and long enough to house the Empire State Building.
2. Long flowing top, with room upstairs to house what she doesn't have right now.
3. Large t-shirt, down to knees which hides the fact that she doesn't have anything to house in the long flowing blouse.
   
4. Nine inch nails
5. Costume jewelry
6. Hippie hairdo
7. Enough makeup to work on the corner of Market and 3rd.

Now, let's factor in that she is only 10 years old (just). She LOVES to play dress-up, albeit not in the way I had imagined. To keep this short, I told her she had to put a belt on. There will be no pants worn where the crotch goes down to the knees damnit! Obviously, this is still just dress-up for her, because all she said was "ok." I got off easy on this one I think. I shudder to think of the clothing battles that lay ahead. Did I tell you she has an 8 1/2 women's size foot? And that she likes to wear my shoes?

Please...let's not talk about how long it takes me to find a matching pair of shoes in the morning.