Here's the birthday girl yesterday, looking rather..er..old. Our conversation went like this...
Me: "Alice while we wait for Daddy to come home from work, I would like to take your birthday portrait (family tradition) while it is still light."
Alice, shouting from upstairs: "OK, I'm just getting changed."
Alice then appears dressed in her favourite dress which has been taken back out of the dirty washing basket. The large food stain was at my eye level as I sat on the sofa. Her black cardigan covered in cat hair as one of the cats had been lying on it. But as I went to meet her gaze to point this out I became distracted by a more obvious feature and in doing so I miraculously turned into my mother.
Me: "You can go back upstairs right now and take that make up off. Your face is orange!"
Alice in complete surprise: "Really, oh, I didn't really notice." (Meaning - make up what make up?!)
A few minutes later. She appears back in the room; face less orange but her eyes ringed in heavy black eyeliner.
Me: but my mother somehow speaking through me: "Absolutely no way. Go and take that off!"
Alice: "But I have!"
Me: "It's that black eyeliner. Go and take that off, please."
Alice: "I can't, oh please don't make me, it looks alright I always wear this, all my friends wear it..etc"
Incredibly, I give in.
Me: "Well, I don't know what Granny will say."
We go outside and she sits on the wall. As I look through my view finder I catch my breath as I see my 14 year old self looking back at me. Eye liner or no eye liner.
She is blossoming into such a wonderful young woman. She has the best attributes of both Anth and myself and for that we are truly grateful. Though does this mean I had better make friends with the eye liner - or will I always sound like my mother?
