Jumping through Hoops

My little Moll, warming up before her game.  I try not to post pictures of people's children if I don't know it's ok with them for their kids' photos to be floating around it cyberspace.  It would have given perspective to how crazy little she is next to all the other girls.  She is having fun, and it is a great league for her to learn (oriented to teaching, not competing).  She does not quite look as much of a natural as she does at her other activities, but she is a great sport.

It also dawns on me how much of a suburban, middle-class mom I am not sometimes.  Moll's my first kid, so I'm on a learning curve with this sports stuff anyway.  Add to that my caution of some aspects of American culture.

So I'm sitting on the bleachers and the moms behind me start talking about their tummy tucks. The conversation went on to the name brands of jeans they usually wear, some of which I'd never heard of, from stores I'm only vaguely familiar with. They discussed that when traveling if they find they need jeans, they just run to Target and get a pair for 9.99 and then leave them at the hotel.   

Imagine the state of my shock. I buy my jeans from consignment shops and 9.99 is average price.  I get my hair cut for 15 bucks by a student and that's it in the beauty treatment arena. 

Moments like these impress upon me the total futility of trying to fit a mold.  Even I achieve the status I think I should, how much of myself did I lose in the process?  What beliefs did I shed in effort to squeeze in?  I want my kids to do what they love, and I encourage them to be themselves.  How do I think they will learn to be comfortable in their own skin if I am comparing myself to others and feeling that I'm not up to standard?

How do you think I'd look in dreds?