Scattered thought #1 – Nikki has been begging us for a two-piece bathing suit. After a party (involving a hot-tub) with her girlfriends a few weeks ago, she has repeatedly told us that “EVERYONE has one” (which, translated could very well mean one or two of them do). She used to have one – a nice modest suit – before she lost half of it. Last weekend, we got the bi-annual garbag bags full of hand-me-down clothes from my generous friend Suzanne, and wouldn’t you know it – there’s a two-piece bathing suit in her size. EXCEPT – this wasn’t the nice modest suit she’d had in the past. The bottom was fine, but the top – well, can we say “string bikini”? When she walked out of the bedroom, her daddy took one look at her and his jaw dropped in horror. Though she’s only ten, she has already developed curves, and our sweet little girl looked dangerously “hot” in this little number. Of course, the first thing out of her daddy’s mouth was “you will NEVER wear that in public!” To which he was met with a barrage of retorts. “BUT – it’s JUST a bathing suit. What’s the big deal?”

Well, what IS the big deal? I’d really like to know, from those of you who have raised pre-teen and teen girls, what your reactions would be. I don’t want to be an uptight mom with a long list of “thou shalt nots”, but I also don’t want my ten-year-old daughter being gawked at by hormonal teenage boys or dirty old men with nasty thoughts on their minds. But – how do you explain this to her in a way that she’ll understand but not get totally freaked out and self-conscious about the way boys look at her?

Scattered thought #2 – Somewhat related to the above scattered thought, yesterday, while the girls and I were splashing around at the Pan Am Pool with some friends (Nikki was in her MODEST bathing suit), there were also a group of young teenagers playing a game with a beach ball. One of the girls jumped on one of the boys and held him down. He said “what are you doing?” Her response was “I’m raping you.” Huh?? When did RAPE become funny?

Scattered thought #3 – Just like they say at the Oscars – “It’s just an honour to be nominated.” Along with a number of my excellent blogging friends, I have been nominated for “best writing” over at the Share the Love Blog Awards. Gee thanks! I’m tickled! If you feel so inclined, you can vote for me here. And give a nod to some of our other friends while you’re there.

Scattered thought #4 – My lovely sister and her equally lovely husband are taking the girls for a sleepover tonight. Of course the girls are thrilled, but ya wanna know the best part? We get to have DATE NIGHT! Yay! A night alone with my beloved – you can’t go wrong with THAT!

Scattered thought #5 – Hmmmm… I wonder if Scattered thought #1 or 2 will bring some undesirable google searches my way? If you’ve come here by googling nasty words – GO AWAY! You’re not welcome here and you WON’T find any pictures of prepubescent girls in bathing suits.

Scattered thought #6 – The girls and I just went shopping for hockey sticks this afternoon. This winter, they’ve suddenly become quite passionate about skating and are all rather interested in playing some fun scrimmage games of hockey the next time we hit the ice. And after my night of hockey with the “W.I.L.D. Women”, I’m looking forward to the next time, now that I have my own stick!

Scattered thought #7 – The other day, out of the blue, Maddie said “Mom, life is like a bowl full of spaghetti.” She didn’t have an explanation, but it left me wondering what deep meaning might lurk behind her random thought. Perhaps we’re all just a bunch of noodles covered in sauce? Perhaps we’ve got nothing but squashed tomatoes to look forward to in our future? Perhaps we stick together and get all clumpy if overcooked? Hmmm…

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