Maria had two wishes for the start of her birthday.  The first was for me to not workout on the morning of her birthday so I could do her hair.  Piece of cake (she never lets me touch her hair so I was charged up about that one).

The second wish was for me to wear high heels when I walked into her school to drop her off.  Not such a piece of cake. 

“Mom, please wear high heels on my birthday. All the other moms wear fancy clothes and high heels.  None of them wear fancy clothes and gym shoes like you do, mom.  It’s embarrasing.”

Yeah – I plainly see the start of the “embarassing mom syndrome” shining through her new 7-year old self.  I would never have imagined that I could embarass Maria by simply wearing gym shoes with my work outfits (now I know how to scare her!).  But then again this is the girl who finds my laugh embarrasing because it’s too loud (although she fails to see how loud her voice can boom when she wants it to).   

So, I stepped into my high heel shoes today and walked into Maria’s school.  My feet ached just from the half of a block that we walked (Maria had chosen my most stylish but least comfortable heels for me to wear).  Maria held her head up high as we passed her friends.  She pointed out my shoes to certain girlfriends who looked like they would be impressed with such a shoe selection.  I quickly changed into my gym shoes when I left her school, and when I came home tonight in my work outfit and gym shoes, Maria let out a deep sigh.

“Mom, what happened to the high heels I gave you this morning?!”

I felt like a teenager again being questioned about the rest of the $20 bill I received to get a $5 lunch. 

“My feet were killing me, Ri,” I responded.

“You have to get used to heels, mom. But I will let you wear flats to dinner tonight.”

She does love me….