I find myself at a tricky time in my life. And not just because I am researching ?What do you do with the sagging skin near the knee?? No, in this instance I am finding it difficult to shop for my daughter.

I am sure you will agree that twelve year old girls of today are very different than when we were twelve. They are more sophisticated; they are exposed to so much more because of television shows and instagram and all that jazz. The girls today are more fashionable and trendy, developing a style much earlier. When I was twelve and had a party, I went to The Limited. Or, the pipe dream was one of those Jessica McLintock dresses.

Now, I struggle because I just don?t think it?s appropriate to dress sexier than your age. I see some of the girls at parties and I know their color underwear. The dresses are too short, the shoes too high.

The problem I have when shopping for my daughter is that the dresses seem to either be way too young looking, like she is always dressed for an Easter egg hunt, or they are too sexy, like she is going to date Bieber and charge him.  The other day, my daughter tried on a dress and had to say to me, ?Mom, it?s pretty, but I?m only in sixth grade.? I think I had become desensitized, because I liked it!!!

Where do I find the in between? Well, now that you asked, I have put my online shopping gift to good use and scoured the sites. If you take the time to look, you can find great dresses on sites that we can go to as well.

I think there are three key things to think about when dressing your early teen daughter. You should have a good tailor, so if its too big you can custom fit it and pay attention to fit and length, Remember, if you are going short, you shouldn?t show a lot of other skin. And don’t forget to make sure the shoes are appropriate. Too low, your daughter will hate you, too high, your husband will hate you.

Check out what I found.