a scene in Megan's basement last night
Audrey...the youngest: �Daddy, if there�s one thing I�ve learned, its that all children will be children, and grown ups will be grown ups. And teenagers will be teenagers.
�And teenagers are picky. Very picky.�
Dad: �Oh, Megan�s pretty picky, isn�t she?�
Audrey: �No�Megan�s not very picky.�
megan�s laughter rings out through the room
Megan:�So basically,�
Audrey:�ZIP IT! JUST ZIP IT!�
Megan: �You just said that teenagers are picky�
Audrey: �MEGAN BE QUIET. ZIP IT.�
Megan: �But you said that I�m not, and you had just said that all��
Audrey: �ZIP IT. JUST ZIP IT�
I gave up after that.
Do I understand what she was trying to imply? Not at all. Although it was almost a gratification of my vanity. She seemed to be implying that I was different from most teenagers. Coming from her, that means a lot. Actually, she was rather kind to me this morning too.
I trudged up the stairs in a ratty, out-dated, ill-fitting, johnny collar neck, striped dress, with hair half wet and unbrushed, and heavy bags under my eyes and scanty, ill applied makeup and my sister gasps and exclaims to me, "Megan! You look so pretty!"
I stopped dead in my tracks and darted my eyes about in a bewildered manner, searching for the other Megan she must be talking about. When I realized that I was the only Megan, in fact, the only girl standing in the hall, I decided that she either had named an imaginary friend after me who came up the stairs at the same time I did, or she really was talking to me. Assuming that she would never choose my uncouth name for one of her imaginary friends, I took the latter premise and stammered out
"Uh...thank you?"
My father, without looking up from his cooking, absently remarked to me that she was probably complimenting me because I was wearing a dress and I seldom wear dresses.
I threw back my head and laughed loudly, although now my self confidence and vanity were pricked. I was hoping she was giving a rare compliment because she really did think me pretty; but I looked akin to the tangible embodiment of hell (ok so that's an overstatement, but I thought it sounded good) so I don't see how that could have been possible. Only wishful thinking (doing a lot of that lately). She is a very frilly, girly-girl type, and she loves to see her sisters in dresses. She compliments us, even when they're hideous dresses, to encourage us to wear pretty dresses more.
I'll pass.
But then we had to launch into a discussion about my semi-formal cocktail dress (something like that...to her, its just "fancy" of course) and how much she loved it and thought I should wear it today.
Riiiiiight. I'm going to wear a $200 dress around the house just because it's pretty. I do not think so. The dress is, I think, rather dated by now anyway. It probably won't ever come out of the closet again.
Anyway, she's great. Kids are funny. They provide endless entertainment.