The age when you want to be called cute.

Recently, the clothes my daughter chooses have been changing little by little.
Instead of childish clothes, she prefers slightly more mature ones.
"Because I've grown up, you know."
While saying things like that,
"Let's go buy some clothes!"
she invites me.

The important keyword for my daughter seems to be "cute."
"Is this cute?"
"If I wear this, am I cute?"
I really think she is a girl after all.

Seeing her like that makes me a little happy.
But, shopping for clothes in our house is quite a struggle (laughs).

When she was little, she hated tags, so I had to cut them off.
For pants, she preferred loose styles over jeans.
She wouldn't wear skirts.
Sometimes she wouldn't even wear what I bought for her.
Since she was in elementary school, I have always made her choose for herself.

We only go shopping two or three times a year, but when we finally do,
"I want that too!"
"I want this too!"
starts.

And in my daughter's case,
"Let's go shopping next time"
doesn't work.

Suddenly,
"I'm going to buy clothes today!"
Once she gets an idea, she goes straight for it (laughs).

And once we arrive at the store, she chooses until she is satisfied.
Beside her, I am thinking,
"Are you really going to wear that?"
"When do you intend to wear that?"
while I accompany her.

The reason is that even if we buy a lot, she ends up only wearing a few favorites.
Even so,
"You're definitely not going to wear that."
"You don't need that."
I try not to say things like that as much as possible.
Because I don't want to deny the feeling my daughter had when she thought something was "cute."
When the size doesn't fit,
"Let's skip this one because the size doesn't fit."
When she has bought too much,
"Shall we call it a day for now?"
I look for words that don't deny my daughter herself as much as possible.

But recently, I suddenly thought.
I'm tired from thinking too much about my words...
My daughter often remembers casual remarks.
Even though I meant them without any deep meaning, there are times when they stay with her forever.

That's why I am inevitably cautious when using words like "no," "that doesn't suit you," or "you don't need that."
Of course, it's not that I should let her do whatever she wants.
Things we can't buy, we can't buy.
Things that are not okay are not okay.
Conveying that is also a parent's role.

But I don't want to convey that "what you like is not okay."
That's the difficult part, isn't it?
I still don't know what the right answer is.

Perhaps there is no such thing as the right words.
Parents can't choose the perfect words every time either.
Sometimes we even make mistakes in how we say things.

Even so,
"Is this cute?"
When I see my daughter matching clothes in front of the mirror,
"She's started to care about things like this, hasn't she?"
I feel a little happy.

I feel like she was a child until yesterday, but she has properly developed her own "likes."
As a parent, I am desperate to keep up with that growth (laughs).

Struggling with words.
Consulting with the contents of my wallet.
Sometimes getting tired.

Even so, today too,
"That's cute"
I want to make sure I tell her the parts I can.

While my daughter is reaching that age, I am also still studying how to be a "mother."
And next time we go shopping...

I think I'll try to decide on a budget first before we go (laughs).