My haircut

I got my haircut today for the first time in two years. No seriously. It's not an exaggeration at all. My last haircut took place when Lily was just six weeks old-March 11, 2006.

The entire thing was exciting. I'd been growing my hair for two years in the hope that I would be able to donate it to Locks of Love. But when it got unmanageable and didn't seem to be growing any more, I decided it was time to give up on that dream. So imagine my surprise when my hairdresser told me I had enough! I had ten inches! I immediately told her I wanted to donate it. I couldn't believe it. One of my dreams was coming true!

When she finished cutting and styling, I couldn't believe how light it was, or how good it looked. I went to my mom's to pick up the kids (since Shaun was working late) and my kids just looked at me.

"What do you think?" I asked.

Nobody answered.

I kneeled down to my daughter and asked her. "What do you think of Mommy's hair? Do you like it?"

"I like my hair," Lily said and touched her own head. Not exactly the response I was expecting or hoping for.

When we got outside, I asked again. I was sure they were just distracted. That was why they didn't answer me. "What do you think of my haircut?" I asked Andrew.

Andrew studied it and made a face. "It looks weird."

"What?" I said, hurt.

"You don't look like our Mommy anymore," he said and crawled in the van. "I thought Daddy liked long hair."

"Yeah, you're not our mommy," Lukas chimed in.

I shook my head, not believing my ears. What would Shaun think?

I worried on the drive home, sure he would hate it too. But I'd done it for a good cause. I wanted a child to have my hair. It was important to me.

When I walked in the house moments later, I faced him waiting for the comments. "So what do you think?"

"That looks nice," he said. "I really like it."

I breathed a sigh of relief. He liked it. Someone liked my haircut. Not just someone. The only man whose opinion mattered to me. One more quote from him, "You're beautiful."

Is it Broken?

At my house, when things get crazy, my husband and I ask each other if “you can hear the circus music.” I heard it loud and clear tonight.

I was making dinner. Aren’t I always? Not spaghetti this time, I swear. It was chicken. Anyway, I was making dinner when my oldest son came downstairs screaming like he’d been stabbed or something.

“Can you stop screaming like that?” I said over his noise.

“I can’t!” Andrew wailed.

I continued cutting my asparagus. “What happened?”

The sobbing continued, so I looked up. His nose was a pale shade of purple and swelling, but there was no blood.

“Oh my…” I said, my eyes growing larger. “What happened?”

He covered his nose again and took deep breaths, trying to get enough control to tell his tale. “I accidentally hit Lukas and he cried, so I told him he could hit me back to make him feel better, and he kicked me in the nose!”

“Why did you that?” I cried, rushing to the freezer for an ice pack. “I can’t believe he kicked you!”

I steered my crying child out to the living room and ordered him to lie on the couch with his ice pack while I investigated the rest of the story. Do you hear the circus music people? It’s getting louder.

I went on to yell at Lukas and order him to his bed as he cried about his side and then asked my neighbor to examine Andrew’s nose, since Shaun wasn’t home. Meanwhile, Lily was not only stealing money (her new favorite past time), but she was also sucking on it. Gross. The circus music grew louder once more.

My neighbor studied the nose, which was going back to its normal size (plus Andrew had stopped crying and was rather reasonable by this time) and it was decided that it was not broken. We thanked him and went back in the house. It was getting quieter again. The drama was past.

April Fools

My oldest son played his first April Fool's trick on me yesterday. I had just woken up for the day and was checking my email (as I try to do every morning), when he came up to me giggling with his younger brother.

"Shh!" I said to them, not wanting Andrew and Lukas to wake up Lily, who was still sleeping in her room. Unusual, I thought, for a two-year-old.

Still giggling, Andrew said to me, "Mommy, come with me. Lily got out of bed by herself last night."

I looked at him funny, confused in my sleepy stupor and unaware that it was indeed April Fool's Day. "What are you talking about?"

I stood up and followed my sons who still giggled and gestured largely that I should follow them. They led me to their room and Andrew pointed at his bed. "See?"

On his bed, lay one of Lily's baby dolls. I smiled and shook my head at him.

"April Fool's!" he said, jumping in place.


It seems that my son isn't the only one who played April Fools jokes on people yesterday, however. It seems that Writer Beware blog author, Ann Crispin did the same yesterday, telling her readers that she was selected to write a novel for a popular Disney movie and was about to get pulled from the project. Most of her faithful readers knew she was joking when she mentioned a publishing house that doesn't exactly love her. Others reacted as though the news might actually be true and berated her. How sad. Apparently, humor is dying a slow death. Check it out on her blog if you want by clicking the Writer Beware link to the right.