Not Quite Nubbins

"Man, my bra is bugging me tonight."

This was said to me by my eldest child, my newly-turned nine year old daughter. She has taken to wearing a bra daily. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Part of me feels like it's a phase and she'll eventually realize that bras are a pain in the ass and will give it up until she really actually has boobs and needs a bra. Then another part of me worries "what if she doesn't???" and continues to wear a bra for the rest of her life.

And while I'm not 100% condoning it, I'm also not making a big deal about it. I figure if she knows it's freaking me the hell out, she'll just do it out of spite, as kids are wont to do. I know I would've when I was her age. So I'm just pretty much ignoring it. But the other day, I did actually buy her another one because up until that point she only had one and well, she was wearing it every day and I couldn't keep the sucker washed because it was never off her body long enough to make it through the wash. So I bought her a white one. The white one was because she'd worn the hot pink one to school under a white shirt the day before.

Now, back when I started wearing a bra (which wasn't until 6th grade) you tried your damndest to NOT draw attention to said undergarment because the boys would inevitably flip your bra strap and tease you. It seems that the wearing of a hot pink bra under a white shirt in the third grade gets you no such attention. I even asked her that night if she'd gotten teased about it. She looked at me blankly and asked "Why? Why would anyone tease me about wearing a bra?" Oh I grinned inwardly and then told her how the boys flipped bra straps when I was a kid. She shook her head and said, "Whatever. Boys don't look at boobs."

Yeah, especially when you don't have them, child.

I pray to God that the boys in her school continue to not look at boobs. Forever.

Her father is quietly and inwardly freaking out. He says I should talk to her and tell her that she's too young to wear one. Well, I know how the female minds works and I know that it'd be really easy for her to slip one on and wear it out the door under a sweatshirt and we'd never know. I mean, it took over a week for me to realize she was wearing one and she wasn't even trying to hide it. It's winter, she wears thick, bulky clothes, she's perfectly capable of hiding a bra. I'm not saying I condone such behavior, I'm just saying that I know how it's done. I know how to get around things. Especially parents.

So I'm taking a kinder, gentler approach. Mr. Diva prefers the approach that I'm sure my father would've taken had I gotten on a bra kick at age nine - a lecture, lots of shouting, a bra burning and quite possibly a vow of chastity.



What's scaring me is that my not-quite four year old has worn her Barbie bra all day.







(Please note that Kady is not wearing a bra made for a Barbie. She is wearing a training bra with Barbie printed on it. Just for clarification.)