What’s the thing you dread the most when summer comes around?  The heat and humidity?  The jacked-up A/C bill?  The kids’ boredom complaints?  How about shopping for a swimsuit – for a teenager?!

The debate isn’t just an external argument about whether or not she (the teenager) can/should have a bikini, but also the internal conflict of:  Dang!  I used to have that slim, beautifully curvy, soft, delicate (sexy?!) body.  I’m her mother, for crying out loud!

Why am I admiring my 13 year old daughter’s physique with woeful envy?!  That’s ridiculous.  Or is it?  Weren’t I just wearing a bikini? Wasn’t she just a baby? […]