It's all about the hair

At my house, our heads of hair preoccupy us endlessly.

My girls have long, thick, luscious lengths of brunette hair. Their hair grows quickly. And when that happens, nature makes room for this new growth by shedding some of their existing hair. And it goes eeevvverryywhere. I find long brunette hair all over the floor, all the time. It's status quo here.

M's hair is what I call Breck girl hair. She's had it since she was born. Full head of hair that she might have lost a bit when she started rolling over. Then it came in like gangbusters. I can't remember a time when she didn't get envious comments over it. She can get up, throw it around a bit - not even brush it - and it's a go. That's her, and she's gorgeous. She actually straightens it when she wants to go out which seems so counter-intuitive because it looks great without it. Still, when M goes to her dad's or grandparents' house, they always know she's been there from the amount of hair on the bathroom floor. And it's not something she's proud of, but it's her!

K's hair is curlier, a bit coarser, and she talks often about it. Frankly, all the time. At least once a day, usually more. "Does my hair look good? Do my bangs look ok? Should I wear it straight or curly? What can I put in it? Can you buy me x to make it better?" Today she actually asked me if I thought it had gotten shorter. What?! She has put all kind of products in it to try to get the curl to do what she wants it to do. I think she's finally settled on an (expensive) one that seems to work for her. Through all of these, though, it looks amazing on her. She doesn't believe it, though. She stares at her hair constantly, and loves to put it up when she's frustrated with it.

My hair is...sort of insanity. I never really feel like I have full control over it. It's the curliest in my family, including my own sisters' hair. When I was little, it used to be long, to my waist, and it was so bushy. I had to have it braided everyday by my mom. She used to tell me stories while braiding my hair. She told me one very similar to Caps for Sale, and also I remember vaguely something about a monkey and a drummer. Funny things to while away the time. When we got older we didn't really have time for stories, but I still had my hair braided. I was a regular Laura Ingalls all through elementary school. Right before the seventh grade, I had it cut to my shoulders. I was excited, but who knew how to style it? Not me. And, even better, my mom used to take me to a cosmetology school to get it cut because it was in her budget. Those students used to BUTCHER my hair. Not too many people know how to cut curly hair. So I basically lived with bad hair throughout high school. Next thing I know, it's college, I'm married and nine months pregnant. I went to get my hair cut...and it was the worst one I've had since high school. I cried for three hours until my husband came home, and he took me somewhere to get it fixed. "Fixed" meant it was cut off. Interestingly, I went into labor that very evening and I'm convinced the haircut and my crying precipitated it. M was three weeks early. And, I had the shortest hair of my life. Eventually when she was three I grew it back out, but it was nice to have while it lasted.

These are just some of my stories about hair.

Some beach memories

I'm already starting to lose them...but here's what I've got.

• The endless "that's what she said" remarks by the adults...and then K finally asking, "Mom, do you know what that means?"
• The HEIGHT of the penthouse suite. As tall as the parasailing parachute!
• The smell and the heat of the elevator, and the especially awful heat after running.
• Getting the gasoline in my car pumped by a man for the first time in years.
• Internet & wifi troubles! And calling them up and demanding an immediate fix.
• Doing jumps with Beth on the beach and OWNING a C jump while she barely got her feet off the ground! She's still talking about it.
• Getting sloshed and slurring my words the first night there in front of M's friend. Whoops.
• Harry Potter 6 part 2 premiere and wearing the Gryffindor cape!
• Sitting under the stars with K, talking about boys and the purpose of it all.
• Dancing with my girls but not getting to learn the wobble :(
• Reading part 3 of Stieg Larsson.
• Being in control of the out to eat choices by knowing how to use urbanspoon.com and using my coupons!
• Not having to make lunch for my girls because Beth did it!
• Watching the Justin Bieber movie.
• Being with the girls that I love.

Vacation's all I ever wanted

We got back from the beach today. It was pretty darn amazing. Went with one other family, and then one other set of daughters. I love going on vacations with other families. There's a comfort in knowing there are other parents are there, others to just help take care of the kids and the stuff that goes along with going on vacation. They do things like put beach umbrellas in the sand, bring down heavy coolers, loan my children sweatshirts, cut up fruit, toast sandwiches, give them kisses. Even though my girls are 14 and 18, there are still things we do to take care of these girls. Make dinners, check on them, make sure they're applying sunscreen, try to make sure that they take care of themselves. I learn a lot by watching these other parents.
I love seeing my girls have fun. I love seeing them enjoy their friends. I love seeing them relax. I love them.

On these trips, I also realize sometimes that I don't do enough for my girls in a family unit sort of way. I don't know if they feel a comfort in being "home" and appreciating "home." What do we do, after all, to do special things together? Not enough. We go home, do chores, work, watch tv. I need to learn to enjoy them and their personalities. Enjoy the art of verbal conversation. Enjoy being silent together. We don't do this enough. Maybe I'm the one that hasn't taught them to do this.