Rylie's Beauty School

There are so many moments you remember in your children's lives. Aside from the obvious births, talking and walking, I remember other things. I remember the first time Bryanna ate Ice Cream or when she tried to flush 2 chicken drumsticks down the toilet. I remember Lauren's attachment to those little dancing hamsters that would sing and dance me right into a migraine. Or the time Lauren was listening to music on the headphones….Bryanna's headphones. Bryanna was so mad she turned up the volume as high as it would go prompting Lauren to jump up and scream, "BRYANNA! YOU ALMOST BLEW MY BRAINS RIGHT OUT MY BUTT"! I can still see Rylie throwing Lauren's shoes in the garbage because they were left on the living room floor. That was actually a proud moment for me that one of the girls had really listened to me about leaving things on the floor. Then the proud moment turned into 2 hours of searching for my keys before realizing they fell on the floor as I was bringing in groceries and Rylie took matters into her own hands. Sometimes the lessons you teach come back and bite you right in the ass!So… within these cute little laughable memories, that are really only funny much long after they have happened, I remember the day Bryanna cut her hair. And the day Lauren cut her hair. And now…. The day Rylie cut her hair, both times. Rylie has this beautiful long blondish hair that is/was all one length. It was Wednesday morning about 7am. The girls were in their usual morning moods. In my house, it's an hour of whining and complaining and fighting for brushes, hair spray, toothpaste and mirror time. I had just set Rylie's clothes out and walked into the bathroom. I heard Bryanna say, "Rylie? When did you get bangs"? It didn't faze me. I didn't flinch. I yelled from the other room in what I imagine was the third to last chipper statement, question or calm words of the morning, "she just woke up, she doesn't have bangs, her hair is messy". A few moments later, I called out to Rylie to come in the bathroom so I could do her hair. I hear this sweet little voice say, "no thank you". Ummmm. Huh? Now... the tone of her voice should have made me drop everything and run outside to see if, in fact, the world was coming to an end. I said it with a little bit more oomph, but still not raising my voice, "Rylie… come in the bathroom so I can fix your hair". And again, in such a soft (not normal), so sweet (kinda creepy) voice I hear…"no thank you mommy I will do my own hair". At that point, I still had not put Bryanna's prior question into play. I figured Rylie was being more difficult than most mornings just without the yelling and screaming. I didn't say anything, just walked into the room where I found her with her head buried in the pillow and her butt sticking up like a stinkbug. I took her hand and got her up and much to my surprise…."RYLIE!!! WHAT DID YOU DO???????" My shoulders dropped. I let out a sigh and then let out a rapid fire of questions that had no punctuations other than a thousand exclamation points at the end. OH MY GOD RYLIE YOU CUT YOU HAIR WHEN DID YOU CUT YOUR HAIR WHY DID YOU CUT YOUR HAIR WHERE DID YOU GET SCISSORS WHERE IS THE HAIR DID YOU DO THAT LAST NIGHT?!!!!! I was out of breathe and shook my head as I awaited an answer to at least ONE of the many questions. I sat her down and assessed the damage. I'm repeating over and over all of the questions when I realize. Hmmmmm. She did a REALLY good job! She even put a part on the top of her head. It's even. The cut is straight. No stray hair. CRAP!!! She did better than I would have done. Sometimes you try to pull the good out of a bad situation. How can I redeem myself from this lesson? She did a good job. She looks freakin' adorable with bangs!! She made sure she cleaned the mess when she was done. I had to do the whole, "scissors are for cutting paper not hair… blah blah blah…So for now, I'm not sure what memory vault to file this one in. After being through it twice already, I think my action was pretty good. With Bryanna I cried. With Lauren I freaked. With Rylie, well, I am taking appointments! Enjoy your day!