Honestly Mum, I would not be seen dead in that

My lovely K turned 11 at the end of April. After repeatedly being asked what she wanted for her birthday, she asked for money so she can go shopping. She ended up with a tidy sum so the week before last Al and I took her shopping.

I forgot how hard shopping is! I have never been a clothes type of girl, I was never fashionable and even now dress for comfort and not fashion. For instance, even though I work in an office, you will never ever see me in a skirt. In fact I only have two skirts, one is black for funerals and I have a huge turquoise one that I chuck on over a swimming costume at the beach. However I digress....

We went to Wycombe because it has Primark, H&M and places like that. if we looked at one thing, we looked at a million. We looked at everything from underwear to shoes, form hats to flip flops. K is really beginning to develop her own style, she loves to wear jeggings or leggings with a vest top and a plaid shirt over the top. She has also taken to wearing really wide hair bands to keep her fringe out of her eyes. 'I can't possible have a fringe when I go to secondary school mum'

What got me though is the looks I get for suggesting something, not nasty dirty looks, but just ones of pure amazement that I could ever suggest such an awful item. You can see her mind working out how to (almost) politely put me down. So Al and I gave up in the end and quietly stood in the background to offer advice when asked and to carry bags. If she is like this at 11, I am dreading 14...