Difficult conversation today

Kiki is 12 years old - yes, we are flashing to the present day. It really does seem like she was a baby just yesterday. Anyway, last night my Kiki tried on her costume for her hip hop dance recital. She looks like she has been stuffed into a sausage casing. It is too tight, the seems are strained and either her midrift or too much of her chest shows. She's jsut beginning to develop but it is just not appropriate to have something that tight or revealing on a young girl.

I have to talk to the dance instructor today. I requested to see the costume before the instructor ordered it and there was always an excuse. First she said that she hadn't picked it out yet and then she said that she already turned the catalogue in. Then we had to turn our money in for the costume before we could even get the costume to try on. I'm frustrated. The instructor is 26-years old, has no children of her own. She told Kiki that she looked fine. She doesn't look fine. The instructor is trying to turn my daughter into a 12-year old hoochie mama and I'm not going to stand for it. There is another Mom of one of Kiki's classmates in the dance class who is more conservative than I am. I am going to see how N feels about this too.

I figure I will ask first if the costume can be exchanged for a larger size. If they can't do that, I'm heading to the fabric store and I will be making alterations. Fabric along each side so we can get an inch or two more in width on both the top and the pants. Then I'm adding something along the bottom of the top to cover her midrift. I figure, what are they going to do? Tell me that my daughter can't dance in the recital because she doesn't look trampy enough? It bothers me that we sexualize girls at such a young age. My daughter is 12-years old and in 6th grade. She is not ready to show her belly and chest in public and be in an outfit so tight that it leaves nothing to the imagination. Hell, I'm not ready for that either.

Kiki said she really doesn't like the outfit but asked me why bathing suits are different. Not the hard questions already! I thought the sex talk was tough. I told her that swimming is different but walking around in public in an outfit that revealing and tight is never appropriate.