Something That Irritates Me: Moms Who Dress Like Their Daughters

I went to the mall yesterday. I had to buy a friend a gift for her birthday party tonight, had no clue what to get her, so I went to the mall, figuring that a billion stores at my fingertips might give me some idea of what I should buy. I hadn't been to the mall in a while, but nothing's changed.

Teenagers still try to look cool...and fail.

Kiosk entrepreneurs (you like that phrasing?) try to scam you into buying something...and fail.

Department stores try to lure you in by advertising outrageous sales...and succeed big time (judge me, I don't care).

And, of course, mothers dress like their teenage daughters in an attempt to look "young and hip" or whatever parents like to categorize it as these days. This is one of my pet peeves. I'm all for mothers not dressing "old" with turtlenecks and sweaters and slacks, etc.; but there's no reason for you to be rocking a low-cut shirt with some hip-hugging jeans, and heels that make you taller than me (ok, so that'd mean they were on stilts, but work with me here, I'm on a roll). Let's get serious; you're supposed to be the role model and impression-maker on that kid, and you're dressing like that? And for what? To make yourself feel better when 20-somethings look at you? That's ridiculous. Your poor daughter is going to end up being a stripper and it's all because her mother didn't have the foresight to get over her own self-esteem problems in order to help combat her daughter's.

Yes, I'm jumping to conclusions a bit, but you know where I'm going with this; mainly, because you've had the same thought EVERY single time you see a 47-year-old woman dressed in clothes from Hollister and Forever 21 that she should've given to her 16-year-old daughter. And the makeup? My goodness. I keep trying to give mommy dearest the benefit of the doubt by telling myself that she got the free makeup promotion done at Macy's or Dillard's, but there's no way all of the 46-going-on-17 ladies were in there at the same time. You don't look ugly, ladies, I'm not saying that at all; I just don't understand.

In the future, I hope to see more moms wearing "cool mom" stuff to wear. You know, casual-yet-classy blouses, jeans that are their size and not two sizes below, flats or low heels. Heck, I always make a point of it to smile at the moms rocking the hoodies and tennis shoes; that takes some swagger. So, please, moms, for your own good, for your daughter's good, and so I can buy a friend a present at the mall without judging you, please dress your age. When you do that, everybody wins.

~~ Lank