I think it is cosmically unfair to inflict two children in the “why?” stage on me at once. Someone somewhere has to be laughing. I don’t mind Link asking why. He is usually honestly seeking information. There are just so many subjects on which he is less than fully informed as yet. Gleek’s “why?” is a different story. It seems to be some kind of an instinctive automatic conversation extender. I’m not even sure she hears the answers or cares to process the information. She’s only been doing it for 2 days and it’s already annoying. And then I look down at the little face with the big trusting eyes and I realize I simply have to feed this hungry little mind no matter how frustrating the process may be.
Kiki created the first major challenge to the New World Order just recently. She cut her own bangs. Normally this kind of offense is cause for much scolding and upset. This time I just looked at the bangs (a picture of which could have served as the definitions of “crooked” and “hacked”) and realized that SHE was the one who would have to live with them. So I merely said “Did you cut your hair?” She came nigh to denying it, but didn’t. I then ascertained that the scissors hadn’t been left where Gleek could get them and made Kiki clean up the mess. She was pretty relieved not to be scolded and then asked if I would help her cut them straighter. Had she not asked, I would not have offered. I seriously considered making her go to a professional haircutter and pay for the haircut out of her own money. But she asked so nicely, that I did help trim them. Now they’re shorter than we’d like, but they aren’t crooked anymore. And look at all the stress and crying I sidestepped. I feel pretty good about that.
So THAT’s what happened to her hair. I thought it was a “bad-hair day” but it was a “bad hair-CUT.”
–Howard
p.s. I love you. 🙂
Would you two mind…
Being the Parents by Proxy when I have kids? 🙂
You two make it look easy…
I’m taking notes of your techniques, should I ever be in this position.
And both of you are very bloody lucky to have one another, I’d say. Very, very lucky. 😀
Luck had nothing to do with it…
Luck had nothing to do with it. We chose each other smartly, applying all the wisdom we’d acquired through the years.
(She was 19. I was 24.)
–Howard
Re: Luck had nothing to do with it…
Unless you crossed the country in search of her, I’d say there’s a little Luck involved. The rest would en up being patience, a good sense of humour, and the wisdom you mentioned earlier.
Re: Would you two mind…
That’s because when I’m too tired to see straight or have been yelling at the kids or staring at the same dishes in the sink for three days, I don’t write about it. I don’t want to re-live the bad stuff and I don’t want to inflict it on anyone else. Anything I put in this journal gets mentally reiniforced as I compose, physically reinforced as I type, and visually reinforced as I read. There’s lots of stuff I leave out. Particularly anything that might hurt someone who reads it. It’s one of the drawbacks of a public journal.
Re: Would you two mind…
Do you ever wonder that one day when your children are older they will somehow stumble across a livejournal archive, and then they will find out what their parents were actually thinking?
I wonder if blogging is old enough where this has happened yet…
Children in Live Journal
I don’t wonder about it. I consider it extremely probable. I try to be careful what I put in here. But I’ve undoubtedly already posted stuff that will embarrass my, someday, teenage children. The best consolation I can offer is that by the time that happens, they can have their own journal and tell you THEIR version of events. It’ll be a learning experience for us all no doubt.
Ah. I tend to put the good stuff down in my livejournal because I want a lasting record. You know how they can pull out those “You don’t love me! You’ve never loved me!” tantrums when you say no about something they desperately want.
The bad things I tend to complain about via IRC so that it isn’t lasting. (And I never complain about people when they are part of the channel. Which means quite soon I’ll have to stop complaining about Goose and Pirate. Goose has joined Freenode #Callahans a few times and Pirate is learning how to type/spell. I’m not sure if she’s reading or not though.)
About the hair cut… Goose cut her bangs three times. First when she was three, then again when she was 5, and at the start of last summer vacation. She gets rather upset with me that I don’t get upset about her cutting her hair. *shrug* It’s her hair. I might have to look at it but she’s the one who has to hear and feel bad when other people exclaim “What happened to your hair?!?!”
Re: Would you two mind…
See, that’s the benefit I have: no one reads my Live Journal. Though I suppose if they did, I’d have to find something interesting to write about…
Self inflicted haircuts
This actually makes the sixth time that Kiki has cut her hair. Three major butcherings between the ages of 3 and 5 which were interspersed with random snips. The last butchering was the worst because she played “haircut party” with a neighbor girl and they cut eachother’s hair very thoroughly. At my house.
Now she’s done it again. Oh well, I guess both my girls can sport odd haircuts for a bit. (Gleek took scissors to her hair last month.) This isn’t a problem with the boys. I buzz their hair.
Wise techniques
I have to agree with haesslich here. I’ll note that down for the day where my daughter tries her own haircut for the first time. Luckily, she’s already 7 and hasn’t tried this yet. But I’m pretty sure that day will come…
Congrats for keeping cool and relaxed on this matter. I guess I couldn’t have done it that way myself.