"almost" a teenage girl

I do not understand girls who are "almost" teenagers. Well, I do not understand the one who lives with me!

Wednesday night, Miss Kat got her hair cut. Not drastically, but she got 2 inches cut off and had some layers put in. Her hair does look nice, it really does. She also talked to the hair dresser about getting some low lights and such put in. We'll do that over Christmas Break.

But, Miss Kat was/is so excited about her hair cut. She's been flipping it around, she's been running her fingers through it, and most importantly, she's been running a comb through it. She's so excited and happy with it. And, I think, "Wow! She's really growing up!"

But then there's this underwear situation...

See, on SUNDAY night, she put on a clean pair of undies. I know, because I had her come up and get her clean laundry. She saw this pair of undies in the basket, and immediately put them on.

Yesterday morning, she was being crabby, so since I'm a nice and loving mom, I yanked her sleep pants down. (She and I were alone in my bedroom, and she was being crabby. This usually makes her laugh and snaps that bad mood away.) But, this time, it put me in a bad mood. I discovered, that she was wearing the same pair of underwear that she had put on Sunday night.

What?

So, I told her it was past time to change those undies. I mean, it was Thursday morning. She'd had them on long enough.

Today, this very morning, when she came upstairs, I asked if she'd changed her undies. She didn't answer.

So, I asked again. Still no answer. So, I looked. The same pair.

This time, she said, and I quote: "I don't have any other underwear."

Uh, WHAT!

Yeah, boggled my mind too. And, I happen to know that she does too have more than one pair of undies. She's been ordered to change them today. And I will check tonight.

But...how can she do that? Seriously, how does this happen? Where have I failed her? Where? Will she ever grow up? Will she ever recognize proper hygiene? What would happen if she was in an accident? What would those EMT guys think, seeing my "almost" teenager wearing a dirty pair of underwear? They'll think that this poor young lady has a rotten mother, one who only buys one pair of underwear for her daughter. They'll think I'm a bad mother because I don't allow my daughter to change her undergarments daily. I don't know if I can stand the shame.