Like Mother, Like Child

When we were kids, our parents bought us girls Hawaiian grass skirts. If I remember correctly, our grass skirts came in different colors. Mine was yellow, Eldest Sis's was pink, LondonEye's was red. I can't remember what the color of the grass skirt of Sister Deer was. (Yellow like mine? I honestly don't remember.)

These grass skirts came with matching tops. I am sure you have seen hula dancers and you know that their tops are essentially bra-like bikini tops. Now, we got these grass skirts when we were teeny-tiny girls. Hang on, let me clarify my previous statement. Eldest Sis and Sister Deer were teeny-tiny and skinny; LondonEye and I were not so tiny and definitely far from teeny-tiny. Anyway, whenever we were made to wear these things, my older siblings would just don the bras and grass skirts without much ado. While I would always be so conscious about all the exposed skin in my midsection. (Hey, my waist, my back and my bellybutton hardly see the light of day.) I would pull my grass skirt way above my waist so that it touched the base of the bra top. As a result, my bra and grass skirt ensemble ended up as a one-piece outfit, instead of a two-piece thing. (Minimal skin exposure, just the way I liked it. If you must know, I only started wearing sleeveless shirts in 2004 or thereabouts.)

I was quite relieved when Father and Mother let us off with a couple of Pearly Shells and I could change back to my own clothes. Eventually, even the couple of Pearly Shells were no longer asked of us and the grass skirts were hung on hooks in our closets.

Fast forward to the 21st century. I joined the summer outing of PSBank in 2007 and discovered such a thing as a tankini. The look of a one-piece bathing suit (no midsection exposure) but the convenience of a two-piece (no need to strip naked to pee).

Nice!!!

We got MyGirl one of those two-piece bathing suits and she wore it out before we left for Australia. I would have gotten her a tankini if I had found one, but SM had these two-piece swim suits right at the entrance of the store by the walkway which MyGirl had fallen in love with, so that was that. We were unable to find a suitable replacement before we left Manila (since it was already long after summer when we left), so for this summer, she had to make do with a one-piece swimsuit we had in her shipping box.

All throughout summer, every time we went for a swim, I would tell myself that we should go and find a tankini for MyGirl since she normally ends up having to use the bathroom and has to struggle with her bathing suit. As Autumn approached, I imagined that there would be less and less swimsuits on display in the stores so last weekend, when MyGirl and I were together in a mall, we took the time to check out the (last) available swimsuits.

Thankfully there were still a few pieces left and almost all of them were on discount. Some were too big. Others were too small. But I found out that the most important guiding principle for MyGirl was that the swim suit should not allow her belly button to be exposed. (I just had to laugh. I knew exactly where she was coming from.)

We ended up getting two since they were marked down and fit MyGirl's criteria. (Of course now it is just too cold to swim.)