It's the new year and I/we are trying to get the house in order.
My days since the kids have been back at school have been consumed by organizational projects and purging items from our over stuffed house. Good Will and I have a reciprocal relationship: I put in my fair share of items for sure; but recently, I've also discovered the wonderful secret of buying my boys' winter coats there.
You see, for many years I have been frustrated by the cycle of buying them warm, expensive, brand new winter coats... only to have them lose them😖.
Upset and frustrated when they lose yet another coat, I vow not to but them another (in order to teach them a lesson); however, I then am consumed extreme "Mom guilt" as I watch them exit the car in the morning off to school without one.
And so the cycle starts again.😞
I do take comfort in that I'm not the only mom who deals with the constant lack of responsibility from the kids and their things. Our school's "lost and found" rack is always overflowing with coats and sweatshirts, enough to open up a small store.
Whenever I go into school, my ritual is to check the rack; and sure enough, I almost always find something from someone. Often times if it is their coat, I will walk it to their classroom and hang it on their hook; I feel like the "coat fairy; what must they think when they go out to recess and they suddenly have their coat hanging by their name tag?!!! .... but I suppose that's what Moms do. 😏Every few months the school gets overwhelmed by the amount of lost and found coats. They give fair warning to the parents that they have limited time to check the rack, otherwise everything will be donated. There are some nice things on that rack, and I had the revelation that the Good Will is getting some pretty nice coats! And that is when the idea hit me: I need to buy my boys' their coats at Good Will.
Sure enough, as I entered the store, I found beautiful, hardly worn, name brand coats for 90% less than they would cost at full price! And John says, if they lose them at school, we can just go to Good Will and buy them back again! 😂Brilliant! It's truly a win-win situation for everyone, and I will never buy my boys' coats anywhere else ever again.
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| They might we irresponsible with their coats, but they are responsible at getting their homework done every night. Evelyn thinks it's unfair that they can do it together....the benefit of being a triplet and in the same class. |
Speaking of losing things, we got the dreaded blue envelope in the mail from the Tualatin Library indicating that we have failed to turn in a book, and thus it is considered LOST, resulting in a payment slip. Caleb knows it's his book and his fault. The price is minimal, about $5.00. As he lay in bed last night he said to me, "Don't worry Mom. I'm going to pay that bill. I think I have a tooth somewhere in my backpack that I never turned in to the tooth fairy, so I'll do that sometime this week and then give you the money." 😇
Coat Fairy-Tooth Fairy...Perhaps I'm not teaching my kids about real life; someday will they expect their "tax fairy" too?!?
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Evelyn came to me asking about a haircut. She has this long, thick flowing hair now and so I've been getting it cut at a "real adult salon" for the past two years.
When I called to make the appointment, they informed me that since she is now 11 years old, she would have to be charged adult prices. Appalled, I told the person on the phone "no thank you," and hung up, determined to find another place to get a child's cut. However, as I called around I soon found out similar situations: child prices stop at age 10.
And so, I sheepishly called back the salon, (which actually turned out had the most reasonable prices) and remade the appointment.
When I took her after school, a young, peppy, stylish woman greeted us and swooped Evelyn back to her chair, informing me I could wait "there", pointing to a comfy seat in the waiting room.
I bid farewell and took my seat, opening my book. It was difficult for me to concentrate on my reading because I could hear this incessant chatter from the chair, which was distracting me. It was indeed my daughter and the stylist talking about life together like they were old friends catching up.
And it wasn't just a one way conversation. I overhead Evelyn asking questions to the stylist about her life, her child and her career, like a little adult!
I looked out the window and it was getting dark.
The time told me we'd been there an hour now.
I looked back and the blow dryer was going and there was laughter from the two of them. What the heck are they talking about all this time? My curiosity was piqued.
Another 15 minutes passed. 20.
I texted John. "can you start dinner? Evelyn is still getting her hair done."
The curling iron came out, and they both had a look in mind that they were trying to create on Evelyn's conditioned, shiny tresses.
After finally emerging from the chair after a full 1 hour and 30 minutes, her hair was transformed into quite the masterpiece.
"Your daughter looks gorgeous," I texted to John.
"I'm not ready to have this conversation." He texted back.
As I paid the bill, I realized that yes, Evelyn indeed required adult pricing. It was more than appropriate.
The stylist and Evelyn smiled at each other. "Mom, I've found my stylist. I told her she's going to be my stylist forever as long as I live here," she announced to me proudly.
I don't think she realizes what a true gift it is to find "your stylist" at this age. I'm 40 and still nomadic when it comes to someone cutting my hair.
"She's just the best!" Evelyn said, beaming.
The young lady laughed and said, "Well you are my all time favorite client."
Oh my goodness. I couldn't believe this! There was a BFF bond between my daughter and her stylist.
"Looking forward to seeing you next time!" The young lady waved at Evelyn as we left.
"Mom," Evelyn said as we got into the car, "her birthday is April 4, so I'm going to get her something and drop it off. I have to write down her birthday so I don't forget."
I looked over at her. "So Evelyn, your hair looks great.... but what exactly did you like so much about her?" I asked with sincere interest.
Evelyn looked at me, "She actually talked to me, Mom. She didn't treat me like I was invisible, but she talked to me like a person."
Wow, that was profound, yet so simple.
"She treated me like a person."
Yes, Evelyn, you will love being an adult.
Well the school year is flying by and I get a bit panicked when I think about it being just about half way through. John and I have made a commitment to buy less and Do more with our kids. We feel the urgency of soaking in these precious years.
Evelyn at age 11 is apparently an adult now with adult friendships, and the boys, well, as soon as they stop losing their coats, will be more manly as well.
One of the gifts we wanted to give our kids was a special experience with their dad. As I wrote about in my last entry, Evelyn and John had a magical time in NYC over Christmas.
The boys, however, embarked on their "dude experience" with John last weekend at a 49ers game in San Fransisco.
Waking early on Sunday morning, the guys flew out at 8 am and spent the day cheering on the "good guys," who crushed their opponent (which made the game even more enjoyable).
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