Nothing Like a New Pair of Shoes to Make the Week a Little Brighter...

My baby girl had a hard week. Between the Benchmark and her friends, I wasn't sure if she would come out alive. Wednesday was the day it all hit the fan, so to speak. Seriously, what does it take to find a good friend these days? "Kindred spirits" in the seventh grade are few and far between, I'm telling you.

As I have said before, Kayla has a sense of style all of her own. She has the independent, free spirit attitude to pull it all off too. Most of the time, as long as she is modest, her dad and I let her express herself. Some days it can backfire...

Wednesday she wore a questionable combination. I didn't see it till after I got home from work, but I didn't think it was terrible. I probably wouldn't have put the items together, but then I feel that way about a lot of things she wears, that everyone thinks is "so cute." Anyhoodle, she went to school and was attacked. Not only was she attacked for what she was wearing but it was her FRIENDS that did the attacking! One "friend" picked everything a part... EVERYTHING.

THEN, to make things worse, another FRIEND informed my sweet girl that she was on a list of "ugly" girls that one of the boys had talked about. Nothing hurts a 13 year old more than for someone to call them ugly. Shoot, nothing hurts a 39 year old (me) more than for someone to tell me that I am ugly.

As you can guess, tears were shed. Angry words were vented (all at home, of course). And my baby was in "depressed" mode all Wednesday night. However, I was very proud of her. You see, she might have been hurt, but she didn't come straight home from school and change her clothes, she wore the same outfit to youth group. The only thing changed was her shoes. And we still went and picked up the other friend to take her to youth with us, and not a word about it was said. Kayla was only a little quieter that night is all. She was strong and I loved her for it.

You see, she knows that not everyone likes her style. Shoot she is use to my raised eyebrow. No, what crushed her was that it was her FRIENDS that decided to gang up on her that morning and pick her apart. She also deep down believes that a certain boy has a right to his opinion. Truth is, Kayla doesn't think he is very cute either. She hurt mainly because her friend decided to throw otherwise useless info back in her face, for no reason. It wsn't like Kayla asked whether he liked her or anything. Kayla never gave him a second thought until Wednesday.

So, as you can imagine, I tried to be the best mommy I could be. This was one time that I told the truth when I said "I so understand!" And I do. I have so been there. Let's see, there was the time that my best friend went out with the boy she KNEW I was in total love with. OR how about the time that my boyfriend told me that his best friend thought I was ugly. That stung. Or the time I wasn't invited to the big party and everyone else was. Yep! Life stinks sometimes. The teenage years can be so brutal on the self esteem. I spent the evening trying my best to encourage her and let her know that she will survive.

After encouraging, lending a shoulder for tears and boosting her self esteem back up again, I did the only thing I could. I promised her a girls night Saturday.

Today, being Saturday was our date. We went here...

Retail therapy people! We bought a new shirt and earrings. I bought the shirt for her and she spent her allowance on the earrings.

And then we went here and I finally saw the smile of smiles.

My girl found her a new pair of shoes. Did I tell you that my girl loves her some shoes?! Well she does. She found these...

They had just enough "bling" to make her a very happy girl. I liked them 'cause I paid less. :) Actually I had to do the "BOGO" thing, so I got me a new pair as well...

Comfy. And just so they don't look like "grandma" shoes, they are silver with a silver buckle. Kayla liked them, so I guess I did good. :)

We also went and saw this...

I cried. I am not a huge Miley fan. I'm afraid I got burned out on the whole Hannah Montana thing when Kayla was younger, but she did a good job in this movie. Being a Nicholas Sparks fan, I knew I would love it. His movies make me smile, laugh and cry. I always leave the theater feeling better because I think I have released about every emotion possible. It was a good movie.

And my baby girl is smiling again. Funny, what a little shopping, a new pair of shoes and time with mommy can accomplish. I cherish these moments, for I know as she gets older, they will be fewer and farther apart.

There was a song from the movie called "When I look at You." I know in the video it is a "love" song, but I think it can apply to anyone we give our love to.

Hope you are having a beautiful weekend spending time with those you love.