A Rite of Passage

A quick story before bedtime...

After spending a remarkably productive morning cleaning up and organizing the family room while Jane was sleeping in the swing, I should have realized that the girls were being a LITTLE too quiet down in the basement. So, I shouldn't have been all that shocked when Grace traipsed up the stairs at approximately 10:45 this morning, informing me that Sophie had cut her hair. Sophie has been obsessed with cutting things lately and no matter how many times I've taken scissors away and put them out of reach for her, she somehow keeps finding more, so really its only been a matter of time before something like this happens. Nevertheless, I stormed down the stairs to fuss at the little rat and there she was sitting on the couch with a chunk of hair cut off the side, said hair strewn all around her, and a pair of child's safety scissors beside her as she sat unperturbed watching "A Bug's Life." I yelled at her to get upstairs to her room for a time out, and then as she followed me up the stairs the truth came out.

"Gracie cut my hair, mommy!" she said. I turned to Grace in a fury and asked if she was telling me the truth or a lie when she said that Sophie was the one who cut her hair. "The truth?" she said with wide-eyed innocence, followed a few minutes later with a "Sorry, mom!" spoken with noticeable fear and trembling. Aaaahhhh! I was more upset with her for lying (a recurring theme with her) than I was for the hair-cutting -- although I was plenty mad about that as well. I sent her up to her room and let her stew there for a good 20 minutes while I got Sophie a snack and fed the baby. When I finally went up to talk to her I asked her why she lied to me and she started to cry and told me it was because she was scared. I decided to use this as a teaching opportunity and tried to explain to her that the reason she was feeling that way was because the Holy Ghost was letting her know that she had made a bad choice by cutting Sophie's hair. Apparently this was the wrong tactic to take, because Grace made a hairpin turn from sorry and contrite to kicking and screaming that the Holy Ghost didn't tell her anything because she did NOT hear anyone talking to her! No amount of explaining could snap her out of the new mood, and it was only exacerbated when I told her that her consequence for cutting the hair and then lying about it was that she can't get the Kit Kitteredge (American Girl Doll) for her birthday. She was NOT a happy camper.





Seriously, how homeless does she look? The irony is that this was about the same age Grace was when Ethan chopped off HER hair. Oh well. Sophie is pretty vain about her "pretty hair" so perhaps this will help to temper that a bit. And while there isn't a single haircut that can camouflage this mess, Scott came up with the fabulous idea of simply switching the part in her hair -- and it works like a charm. Her cowlick is pretty intense, though, so it might take some coaxing to get her hair to stay on the other side.





In other cutting-related news, ALL of the children are now banned from scissor usage due to another casualty from this week -- Ethan's shoe. I don't know what he was even thinking (and to be honest I don't think he even knows), but he came downstairs from bed a few nights ago with one of his Crocs in his hand with the back strap cut in half. I just don't understand the destructive tendencies at work here! Thanks to this lapse of judgment, Ethan's consequence is that he is basically my slave for the next little bit. I told him he owes me the 30 bucks those shoes cost to buy, and he has to earn the money to pay for it. So far he's earned only $2.75, so this could take a while.





Random side-note. The above picture has proven to be a lifesaver in the morning. In order to squeeze in as much sleep as possible, I've taken to setting out the breakfast spread at night before I go to bed for the kids. And then -- so they don't have to deal with pouring from the heavy gallon -- I put cups of milk in the fridge for Ethan and Grace to pour over their cereal if that's what they choose to eat. I do have to say, though, that I think we might single-handedly be keeping Kellogg's Pop Tarts in business. Specifically the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts. Because they're dairy-free, even Sophie can eat them and let's just say they've become the breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack of choice these days.


Other than the scissor trauma, things have been pretty uneventful around here lately. Unless you count the fact that poor little Jane has been sick for the last week with a low fever and stuffed up nose. And the development that Grace and Sophie have taken to fighting with each other like cats and dogs -- not to mention the fact that Sophie has WAY too much attitude for a 2-year-old. Oh, and let's not forget that Ethan has some MAJOR frustration issues and anger management problems -- he seriously goes from 0 to 10 in a split second when he's aggravated. So, yeah. Nothing too exciting going on here! However, I am surviving. That was my only goal for 2009, so overall life is still good -- busy, sometimes stressful, occasionally frustrating, and almost always exhausting -- but still good.

Well, folks that's the latest. Jane is one month old today, and the time has literally FLOWN by. At this rate it will be Christmas before you know it!

Cute little Janie Boo looking beatific at bedtime.

Thank you and goodnight!