Done With Being Fancy

We were walking into church yesterday. Let me back up. At about 10:12am, exactly 18 minutes before mass begins, we realize no one is dressed or ready in any way to walk out the door.  Izzy slept in til 10, which hasn't happened she was about two weeks old, so we were all thrown off.  So, we had our usual church scramble - combing hair, brushing teeth, eating breakfast, finding clean, pressed "church" clothes and matching shoes, maybe a sweater if the church is air conditioned. You never know what to expect.  Amazingly, we are walking into church just past 10:30, but still in time for the opening song.  Kate turns to me and asks, "Why can't we wear jeans to church?"  I answer in a calm tone (having had to answer this a thousand times already), "Because they are too casual."  She responds, "I like casual, I'm done with being fancy."  Well, I had to suppress a laugh because it was cute and unexpected, especially since I hadn't even mentioned fancy and purposely don't use that word, since I have never expected "church clothes" to be "fancy". We just can't afford that. And I can't keep that many nice clothes nice for very long.

But, I can't help thinking that Kate's statement wasn't just a protest for that Sunday. She is nine after all. And maybe making more of a statement like, "I'm growing up now mom."  Or, maybe we need to sit down and talk about words like "fancy", "casual", and "church clothes" so that the next time we have a clearer understanding of what is appropriate.  I feel like we have done that already, but it may be time to re-visit. Do it again. And if my experience as a kids tells me anything, we'll talk about it again, again, and then again.

Did you know that once I had to wear my school uniform to church?  Well deserved and very effective. I will never forget that embarrassing Sunday.

I am sure Kate will get over this one too. She looked great by the way.

Here's the nine year old on our camping trip.