I knew that my child would be beautiful before she was born. What mother doesn't know that? Also, her father has the most gorgeous eyes and lashes and I was pretty sure that Violet would benefit from this. However, I was not prepared for the onslaught of well-meaning strangers who needed to impede our forward motion and advise us on how pretty our baby was. I'm sure this happens to everyone with a new baby, but we observed that nearby children didn't get the same reception. In fact, people would go out of their way, stepping over other toddlers and ignoring their own offspring to tell us about Vi's beauty. It was disturbing to me and thankfully, now that Violet is 3, it happens with less frequency. But, a new phenomenon has emerged to take the place of all the beauty talk.
"Oh, your little girl looks just like that Suri kid!" We also get, "She kinda looks like that cartoon kid, in Monster's Inc." Personally, I prefer the latter of the two, just because animated dopplegangers are a little less creepy. It's also clear that the Mommys at the "good playground" have a lot of time on their hands for reading UsWeekly and watching Entertainment Tonight. I found it extremely amusing when one woman went so far as to compare Violet and Suri's respective wardrobes. "She's even dressed like her!" Now, I know that Katie Holmes is from Ohio, but I doubt that Suri is wearing clearance rack Old Navy capris (from two seasons ago) and a hand-me-down Kiks Brand knit dress. I'll bet the stains are absent from Suri's look too. Wardrobe not withstanding, I can't blame them for drawing the comparison. When I bobbed Violet's hair last spring, I immediately saw what I had done. Oh well, people used to tell me I looked like Molly Ringwald (apparently all it takes is a bouncy auburn bob) and Aaron is plagued with Richard Greico (circa 21 Jump Street) references. We are a family of celebrity non look-a-likes. Is there any money in that?
