Tonight, I went shopping with Karley to help her find a dress to wear to a friend's wedding. Now keep in mind that she is almost 7 months pregnant and therefore the stores we had to choose from were very few and far between. Shopping for the perfect dress can be hard enough at the best of times but even more difficult when you are limited by an enlarged belly. We had a frustrating experience trying to find a dress that was feminine yet not matronly and unfortunately the night ended before we had any success.

When Karley was a baby, I could shop for her clothes by myself with much joy, little time and a tiny budget and I would dress her up in as many outfits as I pleased. Once she reached the age of "NO" (three), the whole dressing thing became quite an ordeal. You see, by then Karley had formed an opinion of her own, which differed from mine by a great deal. She could (and would) clearly let me and anyone within 100 yards know very quickly when she didn't like an outfit because she not only cried her disapproval loudly, she simply refused to wear it. As she got older, I dreaded shopping with her because we seldom agreed on the choices and I resigned myself to the fact that we just had different tastes. I was enormously relieved when as a teenager she stopped asking me to shop with her.

Now many years later, I have come to appreciate our differences and I found myself enjoying our time together today. I have learned that we still have quite opposite tastes but that's what makes life interesting. (How boring this world would be if we all thought the same!) I also learned that maternity wear, though much better than in the days when I had to wear it, still badly needs improving. Often, we hear how beautiful pregnant women are yet there are still no affordable designs in evening or formal maternity wear to enhance them. Hmm...if I was a decent seamstress, I could start a business.....