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Friday, June 19, 2020 3 Brooklin Town Crier In Between Our Brooklin Kids By Leanne Brown Until recently, when it came to clothes, my daughter was content with whatever fit and was comfortable. She hated going shopping. Mostly we ordered her clothes online or I bought them for her, usually with no complaints. Recently, she's developed an interest in fashion. At Christmas, she received a few fashion-forward gifts from her 20-something aunt, which turned out to be her favourite clothes. Devoid of large graphics and sequins, they're trendier and she obviously likes them because they seem to be the only things in the wash. The cute girl power t-shirts and sequin flip graphics haven't seen the light of day in the last few months, unless she's wearing them to sleep in. She's had a bit of a growth spurt, which is on cue for a 10-year old. As a result, many clothes no longer fit. But of course with COVID-19 impacting businesses, shopping hasn't been at the forefront of our minds. Too small Last weekend, she pulled on a pair of shorts and a tee that were obviously too small. Not only that, she complained they were too babyish. I could see where she was coming from. The "Are you kitten me" tee no longer suited her. The shorts were so short and tight that Dad marched her upstairs to change. I said I would buy her some new things. She could go online and pick out what she liked and we'd get what she needed. (She has a birthday coming up so I also needed hints.) Well, it looks like kids stores no longer cut it. "Justice is too sequiny," she lamented. "Children's Place is for babies. Why does everything have a unicorn?" Even former go-to stores like the Gap and Old Navy weren't working out. They had a few items she liked, but not much in her size. So I let her surf. She quickly moved on to stores for women. The styles she was choosing gave me insight into how she wants to look. Some of it was way too mature, with cropped tops designed for women. I'm okay with a few cropped styles, but it has to cover enough and come to the top of her pants. I avoided an argument as these were all too big for her. Older styles My daughter is very much in between. She wants the styles older girls wear, yet she's petite and they just won't fit. While kids stores have her size, the styles are clearly designed for the younger child. It's a difficult stage. The 10 to 13 age group has limited options which probably explains why the Gap/Old Navy brands never have those sizes in stock. In the end, we found things at a few stores in extra small sizes. After a few stitches to adjust waist and shoulders, she was overjoyed with the new styles. We went through her closet and removed the babyish clothes. We gave some to a younger friend and the others will be posted on local Facebook sites. She can use the money to buy new items. Now if a local business is looking for an idea, how about a reasonably priced store selling stylish clothes and trendy items for this age group? Basically it's just the clothes older teens wear, but in smaller sizes and maybe a little more fabric coverage. However, absolutely no unicorns or sequins allowed! Optimist Club Awards Scholarships The Brooklin Optimist Club has awarded two Brooklin High students $1000 each to honour their contributions to community service. Abbey Miller and Jacob Elliott are the first ever recipients of the Optimist Club's scholarship for any student planning to attend post-secondary school or training in the trades. In accepting her award, Miller wrote, "I did the majority of my hours volunteering with the optimist club, but also I loved volunteering so I would do as many as I could where needed. "Being able to volunteer at fundraisers and events is truly the greatest feeling," she added, "seeing the faces of the kids light up with happiness or being able to raise money for a cause is so rewarding you don't need money. It gives you happiness to give happiness. "Volunteering gives me something to be happy about, to give back to my community and make people's day means the world. I would spend weeks decorating and making stuff to make sure this event would be perfect and the families would have so much fun. I will continue to volunteer as much as I can where I can to help make a difference in people's lives and causes." Eliott volunteered at two camps, the Ashburn Burns Presbyterian Church camp and at the Brooklin library summer camp. He also volunteered with school teams and clubs. But more significantly, he was an "ambassador" at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab Hospital, posting occasional videos "to help inspire younger patients going through their time at Bloorview." He'd suffered a stroke during what would have been his final high school year in 2018- 19. "After I suffered my stroke, I struggled to find my purpose and questioned why something like this happened to me. I found the experience of working with other brain injury patients extremely rewarding as I could see the impact I was making on children with disabilities, mostly younger than me, helping them get through their own difficult times. "During the non-lockdown time, I got to go into the hospital and chat with the students to help make them feel comfortable and believe that what they are doing is going to help." Elliott notes his experience helped him convince others that it does work wonders.