mothers on the verge

Is anyone else also starting to feel that fashion is becoming impossible for a still vaguely youthful thirty-something to pull off without looking utterly ridiculous? The faux peasant look I could cope with. 70s retro - fabulous. 50s prom queen - difficult with a flat chest and no waist to speak of but not insurmountable. The tunic top and skinny jeans thing - lovely low maintenance and even my stumpy little legs can (just about) cope with it. But what's with this nu-rave and 80's fabulous nonsense? It's like I'm stuck in a teenage time warp and it wasn't any great shakes the first time around. Neon coloured Katherine Hamnett -style logo tee's? With clashing leggings? The Aceeed smiley face as a logo of choice? Puffball and ra - ra skirts? Give me a break. And scarier still, I keep spotting the hair style of desire for my 12-year-old self - the rat's tail (which thankfully my parents, who I thought were so mean and square at the time, refused to allow on ...

I pick the Rabbit up from school today -- last day. She comes running across the playground, tears streaming down her face, and falls in a crumple in my arms. I am consoling her when one of her teachers comes up and says, "We had a hard time today at the end of the day." We? I walk with her to a shady corner of the sidewalk and the Rabbit starts to tell me how her teacher screamed at her -- twice -- today. Once for talking to another girl when she was supposed to be listening to teacher, another time because she was looking for her sparkle paint in her book bag as they were lining up to go home. Now I agree that she needs to pay attention to her teacher, and line-up time is supposed to be quiet, and their hands at their side. But screaming? I don't think so. The Rabbit says, "And what I did didn't need screaming." Love it. On her last day. Had to make her cry. Because she wanted to make sure she had everything before she left, and tried to talk to a friend. ...