I got no style.

I am every teenage daughter's worst nightmare for a mother. I can picture our future shopping trips. You know the ones where I hold up an item of clothing and say something to the effect of, "How's this?" and she responds by saying, "Well, Mom, it's cute for you." And that's if I'm lucky enough to have trained her in the ways of tact. I know this. I know this because I said the exact same thing to my mom 15 to 20 years ago. Apparently my sense of style was rather short-lived. And now I'm bracing myself for the reality that I will never be a "cool" mom.

Part of me wonders why one as fashion-deficient as me would be blessed with so many beautiful girls - I'm probably the envy of every "cute" mom out there. You know, the ones who comment that girls are so much fun! Their clothes are so adorable. The hairstyling possibilities are endless! I should be so grateful! And I am grateful - grateful that I have girls, but not for the above reasons. Because, as anyone looking at me can quickly tell, my appearance doesn't even fall into my top ten (I should post a picture here, for emphasis, but I'm out of town and don't have access to the real "winners").

Don't get me wrong - I don't assume that people who have style are shallow or that they place value on worthless things. Most of them have just got "the knack". And they can do wonderful things with those talents. But, since I don't have it (the knack, that is), choosing to spend my time trying to achieve it would be nonsense. I've got other talents.

So, while I think it's great that some people can do "cute", I can't. My girls will learn calculus, literature, cooking, cleaning, hard work, the gospel, gardening and music. If they want a sense of style, they'd better hope that somehow the genes aligned in their favor. Cause they don't stand a chance at learning it with me as their mom. Sorry girls.