I am a terrible mother—just ask Rafaela.  A couple weeks ago was Tete’s 8^th birthday and we were going to have a party.  It was a cold, rainy Saturday night.  It had been raining non-stop all week and was no more than 60 degrees.  Everything was muddy—all of our clothes, shoes, the entire Fazenda covered in mud and small rivers.  Rafa comes out of her room in a sundress.  And not just any sundress, mind you, but a flimsy, above-the-knee, gleaming white, spaghetti strap sundress complete with a sequin-covered bodice.  I hate this dress.  It is waaaaaaay too old for her (she’s 11), and talk about totally inappropriate for a rainy, muddy, cold night.  I laughed out loud and asked,

“What are you wearing?”  (meaning “What the !@*&^?#*!?! do you think you are wearing?”)

“My dress.”  (As if she only has one.  And as if she saw absolutely no problem with this.)

“You’re not wearing that.”

“But it’s my favorite dress!”   

                                                                         

“You are NOT wearing a sundress tonight!  Look outside, it’s 60 degrees and raining.  Not to mention completely muddy.  The dress will be filthy and you’ll catch a cold.  (I should’ve thrown in “You’ll shoot your eye out!”)  Go put on pants and a sweatshirt.”

At this point she really started to panic because she realized I was not going to budge.  And so the tears started…

“But it’s a party!  Everybody’s going to be dressed up!!! WAAAAHHHHHH!”

I had to excuse myself from the room because I just couldn’t hold back my laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation.  I went for my daily freezing shower and left her to her tears for a few minutes.  “Everybody’s going to be dressed up.”  Right.  Everybody.  All 32 of us who live in the Fazenda.  The muddy, wet, cold Fazenda.  Everybody’s going to be in white sundresses and starched linen pants.  Sure Rafa.  I was laughing at her silliness and at the flashbacks of all the tears I shed over clothing during my adolescence.  Oh the poor girl!  I could feel her pain, but how absurd!  I thought of my poor mother J  Funny how girls are girls the whole world over.  It doesn’t matter that Rafa is a poor girl who lives in the country with a bunch of crazy foreigners.  She has the same desire to look pretty for every occasion. 

So I finished my refreshing shower and went to help her.  We picked a different dress. (“I HAVE to wear a dress!  I am NOT wearing pants to a party!  WAAAHHHHH!”  ok, ok, I understand.)  One with thicker fabric, a dark floral pattern, and that reached past her knees.  Paired it with a sweater, earrings, and I loaned her a chic scarf.  (Come to think of it, I never did get that scarf back.  Hmmmmmm)  I wore earrings and a scarf too, it was a party after all ;)