Dear Roger: May You Have One Just Like You

I spent the first day of the new year out wandering around with my daughter. We were both a little stir crazy from being stuck in the house with all the boys and we just needed some girl time away from them. Its been bitterly cold outside so going to the park or anything like that was out of the question, so I decided to take her shopping with me for few things I needed for the house. She was excited to get to go shopping without any boys along and I cant say I blame her. She has really been developing her own particular style and while its unique, its not exactly what I like to see my nearly 8 year old daughter aspiring to dress like.
For most of her life she has been a very girly girl, choosing very fancy dresses and carefully put together outfits that always made her look like quite the young lady. She was colorful and stylish and managed to pull of the funky cool vibe of Easter/Punk almost all year round, but now I am noticing she is leaning very much more towards the punk end of things. I was always pretty much like that so I don't have too much of a problem with it, after all, I wasn't too much older than her when I was walking around with a mohawk and skinny jeans with objectionable writing all over them, and a denim jacket with weird patches and safety pins all over it and dog chains on my boots. I made quite the impression, even compelling the more wary in my home town to pull their small children behind them and covering their eyes. I never was really into the tighter all over clothes with heels and things until I was much older, so I guess this may be why I am kinda distressed by my daughters new fashion desires.
She still wants dresses, but the one she was really wanting today was the kind of dress you might see on a 20 something, all backless and cut to show off things that an 8 year old does not have and instead of wanting a pair of boots that went well with her punk pants she wanted a pair of fancy patent leather heels.
I never really learned to walk well in heels.There was a brief period of time in Dallas when I was dating a very classy, wealthy, older man who took me nice places and those nice places required things other than cowboy boots, but I never really enjoyed walking around in those heels and I have a feeling I was more comic relief than anything else when I was wearing them. I don't want my daughter to be that kind of awkward, so I guess its inevitable that it I want her to be able to learn how to act and dress like a lady, I should let her start by learning how to walk in a basic pair of low heels. I drew a line at the dress. Shes is not going to be wearing anything backless as long as I have anything to say about it, and when she drug me down the makeup aisle and started telling me all about the stuff she thought she needed, I think she realized she had lost me.
I really dont have a clue how to wear makeup. Her older brother has worn more makeup in the last couple of years,(guyliner), than I have worn in the past two decades. He would have to be the one to teach her how to use it, and I have already said that she is not allowed to wear anything outside of lip gloss until she is old enough to have a job and earn the money to buy it herself.
She has compelled me to spend more time learning about how to take care of her hair because she insists she wants to keep it long, so I have learned to comb and condition and even a little bit about how to braid it, and for the first time in a long time, I bought hair product that wasnt the cheap kind because she has been complaining about her hair having split ends, (tell the truth, I cant tell what the hell she is talking about), but her brother says she is right. So I have buckled on a lot of things, and I am trying to get more with it about what is girly friendly and such, but I wont cave on a few things and that may annoy her, but there will be no tattoos, no make up, no slutty dresses, and I am still chief of security and retain the right to keep that nunnery in the Irish Sea as my ace in the hole if she starts looking towards California a little too often.
She did throw me a curve ball the other day I really dont know what to do with and this is one that really makes me wish my Paw paw Joe was still alive more than ever, She asked about getting Baptized. I have no idea when is the right age. I dont think shes in the right church for it, but shes been wondering about it. The only one of my kids that are Baptized is my eldest, and he just got it done last year. Im the wrong person to ask and her brother has refused to get involved in it because he thinks it will force me to get into a church, im afraid it will go the other direction that my lack of faith will pull her away from hers, even though she still says her prayers for her loved ones every night.I hope someone will steer us in the right direction or I will find out like so many other things shes trying to do, its too much, too soon and it will wait. I really dont know, but I do know I wish things would slow the hell down!