Too Many Crop Tops… So Many Books
Arg! The other day I went to the mall to find clothes for my daughter. It’s come to our attention that she’ll be going to sleep away camp in a couple weeks and, without me there to do laundry constantly, she’ll need a full week’s worth of clothes. She specifically requested tank tops that are NOT cropped. Well. Did you know that’s impossible to find? At least, at the stores I was at (Hollister, American Eagle, and Aerie.) EVERY SINGLE tank top was also a crop top. I would see a display labeled “tank tops” and would rush over to see this: Now, it’s not that I object to my daughter walking around scantily-clad (no, I gave up on that a while ago.) But places, like camp and school, have dress codes. And they usually- school, for sure- involve not showing your stomach. I know I could shop elsewhere. But these are the stores and styles she likes. I can just imagine coming home and saying “All the tank tops at your stores were positively indecent, so I went to Walmart and bought you some sensible shirts instead!” Ha ha… I don’t think so. Today she went to camp wearing a tube top with a Pride logo (from Hollister.) This camp seems to be fairly lax, and I haven’t gotten any calls so I guess it’s fine. I’m not sure how strict the sleep away camp will be, but I know her current wardrobe will not be acceptable for high school. School starts August 10th and it will be hot here until November, so she really needs tank tops. Sigh. Ironically, after I tried and failed to shop for my daughter, I went to Athleta and bought myself… a crop top. I’ve mentioned it before, but in the heat of summer I can’t stand to have a shirt touching my stomach while I run. I needed some new shirts, and I had some rewards points left from when I used to have a Gap credit card. The best thing about that credit card was that the points can be used at Athleta. Here’s that cropped tank in action: After the mall, I stopped at the library to pick up a few holds that came in: So many good books to read! But first, I have to finish this one: My son and I both recently read Ender’s Game, and he moved on to the first book in the Ender Saga. He said that Speaker for the Dead was the BEST BOOK HE’S EVER READ. With that recommendation, I had to read it too. This book is a lot of things, but at its core it’s a mystery. And I love mysteries! I don’t think I like science fiction quite as much as my son does, but I’m definitely enjoying this book and I love the fact that I can discuss it with my son. It reminds me of when we both read Harry Potter (ah, the good old days!) He’s already on to the next book in the series, but I’m going to pause after this one to read some of my library books. So many books, so little time. Have you read any of these books? Any recommendations for cute, non-cropped tank tops for a fourteen-year-old girl?