It was time.

It was getting frizzy at the ends and very hard to brush, particularily with the flailing arms in the way. It is also pretty goofy looking with the baby blonde and summer streaks growing out and her “bad dye job” roots growing in with gusto.

So I combed it out while she zoned into Dora. You can see the thin ends. . .they are especially thin because Jonas cut about 4 inches off of one part a few months ago.

I began to cut. This is thin baby hair. No need to undercut or work with layers. No need even to clip 1/2 of it up- because it’s that fine. Judging from her roots, it won’t be this fine ever again. It went quickly and she didn’t realize what I was doing. She got irritated when I made her sit up straight a few times to make sure I was cutting evenly. Mean Mommy, interfering with the Dora worship.

The kid doesn’t miss a beat. She was back to wearing out another Magnadoodle without even stopping to admire her much healthier looking, and much easier to brush hair.

Less than 2 months ago I bought Jonas these sneakers. I bought them from the Osh Kosh outlet. I didn’t buy them because I liked them, I bought them because they were the only pair of boys shoes I could find in his size after searching five different stores. I actually thought they were a little ugly. At Osh Kosh they retailed for $38, which is a little insane for kid shoes. They were on sale for about $28, which was still high for me, but justifiable after dragging two delinquent under 5’s through every store in Vacaville. I told myself that it was ok because he had just barely hit this size, and since I was paying through the nose at a store known for quality, these shoes would last.

The first day Jonas wore them to school he came home with the toe leather scuffed off. About a week later they started smelling like a bag of moldy Cheetos soaked in tabasco sauce. This has a lot to do with the fact that I can barely get Jonas to wear socks. They smelled so awful that wild animals would come running hoping for a bite. Ok, not really. But they did smell bad enough that I nearly drove off the freeway when Jonas took them off in the car one day.

When I picked Jonas up from school yesterday, the sole of one shoe was 3/4th of the way disconnected from the bottom. The other shoes was working as hard as it could to catch up and I knew that it was time to lay these ugly, stinky shoes to rest.

Jonas requested Spiderman, lace-up, light-up wonder shoes. I had a Mervyn’s store credit so I went really hoping that they would have something in his size that fit the bill. I also needed them to be inexpensive enough to buy Maggie another holiday dress since she cut a hole in the front of hers with scissors (that’s a whole ‘nother post though.) I was in luck. Mervyn’s has a sale going on, and I found shoes to the exact specifications 40% off for about $15.

Jonas was thrilled. The sock law was laid down. Maggie took one look at his fancy shoes and her fancy dress and declared, “I want Dora shoes!” I will never be caught up will I?

The past week has just gone and gone and gone. Good stuff all- but boy am I pooped!

My photo “Lizzie” is a finalist in Zazzafooky’s Pet Photo Contest! Please, please take just a minuteto go vote for my pic so I can win a pet portrait and some PetSmart cash! And the glory- don’t forget the glory

You can vote here.

Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! If you have a girl in your life, you need to check this book out! It is a step by step guide for everything a girl should know. I loved it because the things in this book are fun activities, many of them that are being quickly forgotten in our overly plugged in world. You don’t need tons of money or the latest gear- you need imagination and patience and it will teach you skills like how to play 4-square, how to press flowers, how to do 5 Karate moves & how to tie your hair up with a pencil. It also had section on dealing with tough friend situations, finances and a great one page section on boys that basically said be yourself- you’re good enough. The whole book was old school fun for the new age girl- focused on balance, growth, confidence and happiness. I loved that the book also included a lot of feminist facts and pointed out some of the remarkable women of our time.

The book was also very gender balanced. One might worry that a book with the words “for girls” in the title that it is going to be all lipstick and sparkles, but it isn’t. The book includes the periodic table of elements. It includes how to make a volcano, which is something I loved to do when I was a girl. It teaches weather patterns and clouds and how to build a campfire- all things that I remember learning when I was a girl, but which might easily be forgotten and passed over in today’s world.

We need kids who get to be kids. I want mine outside in the mud being imaginative and figuring out how things work. I want mine to understand how to use today’s technology, but not to be so encumbered by it that they miss out on the simple pleasures of this world. It frightens me that children are so easy to placate and pacify with a screen in front of them. I see video games like Guitar Hero and can’t help but wonder why in the world a parent would buy that rather than a real guitar and a few lessons. Our kids need to be building real skill. They need to be trying things out, seeing where they fit and what makes them tick. This book is loaded with ideas at a level a girl could understand, and should be in the library of every parent who ever needed a cure for boredom.