Growing Pains...Adolescent Anxieties

Mother’s red lipstick

Bronze foundation and pink blusher

Oh if she could wear them soon

Dab some brightly coloured eye shadow on her eyelids

Run a wand of black mascara through the roots of her tiny lashes

Fewer beads, less da brats

Less cornrows, do away with pigtails

Enough with the candy-looking hair bands

Maybe more curls

More tongs and more waves

Less cartoons

Reduce the dolls

The little one’s woes

Sick of her coloured stockings

And the polka-dot ribbons

More jewellery, perhaps

The silver definitely looks better

Much better than her pink plastics

One more piercing for the ears

Probably a tattoo with ‘yin-yang’

Less milk

More coffee

Play less rope, less clapping games

Rather the more intellectual ones

The chess and checkers

All these and more

Growing pains

Soon to be adolescent anxieties

Little one, if only you knew

That, is one great stage in life!