"Then We Are Not So Different, You and I” *

[This is a video from an Orthodow Special-Needs Camp, with the background music being one of my favorite songs, Abie Rotenberg's "Who am I"] This song lends it's line to my title and is related to today's post.

TODAY'S POST:
Tomorrow Ricki starts a new year of school, in the same institution, but in a new (and long-awaited) building. Since I have swimming this evening, I tried late in the afternoon to get Ricki to lay out clothes for tomorrow. Now she has PLENTY of clothing, as we went clothes shopping just a few days ago. (See how much her behavior has improved; said expedition did not generate any blog-worthy tales of woe….) HOWEVER she has already, in two days, gone through all five of her new blouses, and some are still in the unwashed laundry. I attempted to explain to my daughter that she would need to choose items from her clothing closet, or at the most, from the clothing currently in the dryer. (Her “light” colored laundry will not be washed until tomorrow, when I have enough to make a full load. But she does have some new items in the load presently in the dryer….)
Nevertheless, Ricki has her heart set on wearing a particular outfit. Frustrated that I was not acquiescing immediately to her request, she turned to me in annoyance:
“Mom, you are not listening. I want (to wear) the brown skirt, blue blouse, and brown vest. All my friends will see that I have a new blouse. Everyone will see that I look great. It will be stunning. All my friends will want to see it! Don’t you understand?!?"
Oh, I do. I bashfully admit that I am already pondering what I will wear tomorrow at the school’s new building’s open house, where I too will see many of my friends (fellow parents). And I also am hoping that “Everyone will see that I look great.” I just don’t talk about it…….
So, you see, there is not that much difference between my daughter and I, is there…?

*This is the main line in the refrain of Abie Rottenberg’s song “You and I”