You're so vain...........

It's amazing how we learn at an early age to be conscious of our looks.  I remember as a child dressing up in my mother's clothes.  I played the part of a doting mother to my baby doll whose name I don't recall.  For kids today, dressing up has taken a different turn.  You'll find almost any costume at any toy store or toy department.  You'll find an assortment of costumes for whoever you want to be.  Whether a princess, a Barbie, Batman, Batgirl, Superman, a character from Toy Story, Star Wars or many others, there's a costume for you.

When my daughter was a little girl, the only time you could get a costume was at halloween.  The costumes were cheep and ugly, so one year I made her one.  An hour before trick-or-treating, I searched the house and found some red and white checked fabric for a dress, a white sheet for an apron and red yarn for hair.  With a little make-up and creativity, she turned out  to be the cutest raggedy Ann doll I've ever seen.

I never realized my daughter cared so much about her looks until, at a very young age, she was studying her great-great grandmother, who we called Momma Baker.  She was in her 90's and was the most precious and sweet lady I've ever known.  However, she had the deepest wrinkles I've ever seen....on her face, arms and legs.  I guess the years of picking cotton and gardening were not kind to her.  Stephanie asked her granny,(my mom), what  was wrong with Momma Baker's skin.   Granny said to her, "That's what happens to us when we get old."  Stephanie, who was mortified, said in all seriousness, "I'd rather die first."

..........out of the mouths of babes.