Branded

I think I may have started Laila on the wrong path.

Personally, I'm not too conscious of brand names. I usually go for the first cheapest, best quality item I can lay my hands on (which is to say just about anything) or the first one that I see.

Ok Ok, I buy on impulse. But I have no compulsion to buy anything when I don't need it.

Laila's exactly like me for most things. She sees a toy on TV and says she wants them, but she hasn't thrown a tantrum yet because she was deprived of a toy while in the store. (Usually, it's me who feels upset when she doesn't go home with a toy after a visit to the store.)

Maybe it's that Mommy thing of wanting the best, if not everything, for your kid.

When I was young, Mommy used to cut my hair. When I got a little older, Ate would cut and style it. That would explain why at one point I had a puffy bangs--she was trying, and miserably failed, to replicate a cut she saw at the salon.

Laila doesn't have to worry about a bad haircut. She gets her hair done in a salon. And it can't be just any salon. It has to be David's. I took her there once and she really took to the pampering the attendants gave her. She calls David's 'Our salon' and objects when I go to other, cheaper parlors.

Earlier today, I called home to tell her I'd be late coming home. Mommy needs to talk to some people, I tell her.

She replies: 'Where? Starbucks?'

She knows Starbucks?! We've gone there a couple of times, yes, but I hadn't expected her to automatically link meetings to that coffee place.

Ex-officemate Gani once teased that I'm raising Laila to be a high-maintenance gal. That's after I told her Laila is familiar with the lotions I use for different parts of the face and body.

Gasp! He might be right!