Leah usually likes her conversations short and sweet. The other day, when Katie (one of our home therapists) was asking her questions, every answer became 'no,' in fairly short order. Katie knew Leah had run out of patience and asked her if she didn't know the answers or if she was tired of questions. Leah agreed that she was tired of all the questions.
Fast forward to today, when we were on our way to a Halloween event with the kids and Katie, who was sitting in the back with Leah. Katie started to ask an uncharacteristically quiet Leah what she was thinking about and Leah replied, "I'm not answering questions."
Another language lesson thrown back in our faces. Well played, Madam.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Crazy hair day
Ever since Leah decided her hair needed some tweaking, we have had to make more frequent haircut trips for maintenance on the new 'do. Thanks to the extremely kid-friendly atmosphere at Pigtails and Crewcuts, haircuts are now a preferred activity. When Leah needed her bangs cut a few weeks back, Maddie announced she needed a trim too, and was not pleased when I pointed out to her that her ends hadn't even had time to split since her last cut.
Anyone who thinks that was the end of the discussion does not know Maddie. She changed tactics and announced she wanted bangs. Both twins have contemplated bangs since Leah's foray into hair design, probably because (unbelievably) she got a lot of compliments on her new hairstyle after Pigtails and Crewcuts' repair job. Lauren got an explanation of cowlicks and accepted the news that bangs would be pretty funky on her with minimal fuss. Maddie had been going back and forth on it. She played the bangs card, and I acquiesced.
We gave her a couple of chances to back out once she was in the chair, but Maddie was resolute. Said resolve lasted until about 30 minutes after we got home, when Maddie announced, tremorously, that she didn't want bangs anymore. My explanations that hair doesn't work that way were extremely unsatisfactory. It was less about dislike of the new style than it was overblown nerves about attending school with different hair. This is same kid who seized the opportunity to help me guest-read to her class, including quizzing classmates on unfamiliar words. Go figure. (The child is six. Pause for a moment to contemplate middle school, and then buy me a very large drink.) Even reassurances from Lauren couldn't take the edge off her nerves. Mind you, Lauren was later overheard saying, "I bet you wish you were me. I couldn't get bangs." Mike and I went to bed anticipating a really fun time trying to get Maddie ready for school the next morning.
Sometimes when we anticipate problems, the kids pleasantly surprise us. Not this time. Maddie was even worse than we thought. She started out teary, progressed to insisting her stomach hurt, and escalated to full blown tantrum as we made her walk out the door. Maybe it's a perverse sibling-rivalry thing, and she didn't want Leah to be the only one who can make the neighbors do a double-take. By the time I walked her to school, I'd decided that it was monumentally unfair that no one has happy hour at 9:00 a.m.
The day passed with no calls from the health room about her stomach, and Maddie came out of school with her usual grin. She admitted she was glad she went to school and was able to acknowledge that Mrs. Allman's classroom, the playground, her locker, and our house were all still intact even though her hair was different.
So here's the source of all the angst:
I like her better without them, but will be taking that opinion to my grave.
Anyone who thinks that was the end of the discussion does not know Maddie. She changed tactics and announced she wanted bangs. Both twins have contemplated bangs since Leah's foray into hair design, probably because (unbelievably) she got a lot of compliments on her new hairstyle after Pigtails and Crewcuts' repair job. Lauren got an explanation of cowlicks and accepted the news that bangs would be pretty funky on her with minimal fuss. Maddie had been going back and forth on it. She played the bangs card, and I acquiesced.
We gave her a couple of chances to back out once she was in the chair, but Maddie was resolute. Said resolve lasted until about 30 minutes after we got home, when Maddie announced, tremorously, that she didn't want bangs anymore. My explanations that hair doesn't work that way were extremely unsatisfactory. It was less about dislike of the new style than it was overblown nerves about attending school with different hair. This is same kid who seized the opportunity to help me guest-read to her class, including quizzing classmates on unfamiliar words. Go figure. (The child is six. Pause for a moment to contemplate middle school, and then buy me a very large drink.) Even reassurances from Lauren couldn't take the edge off her nerves. Mind you, Lauren was later overheard saying, "I bet you wish you were me. I couldn't get bangs." Mike and I went to bed anticipating a really fun time trying to get Maddie ready for school the next morning.
Sometimes when we anticipate problems, the kids pleasantly surprise us. Not this time. Maddie was even worse than we thought. She started out teary, progressed to insisting her stomach hurt, and escalated to full blown tantrum as we made her walk out the door. Maybe it's a perverse sibling-rivalry thing, and she didn't want Leah to be the only one who can make the neighbors do a double-take. By the time I walked her to school, I'd decided that it was monumentally unfair that no one has happy hour at 9:00 a.m.
The day passed with no calls from the health room about her stomach, and Maddie came out of school with her usual grin. She admitted she was glad she went to school and was able to acknowledge that Mrs. Allman's classroom, the playground, her locker, and our house were all still intact even though her hair was different.
So here's the source of all the angst:
I like her better without them, but will be taking that opinion to my grave.
Picture catch-up
It's almost Halloween, and I'm finally remembering to post the first day of school pictures. Good thing I used to work in a deadline-oriented business.
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