Kids around here get out of school every Wednesday at 1:30 in order to avoid missed days for teacher in-service. This particular Wednesday, I took the afternoon of in order to take 19 (yes, 19!) second and third grade Girl Scouts to tour a t-shirt printer. Five of the girls came back to my house to hang out until their parents got off work. Sure, they used a whole bottle of chocolate syrup on their ice cream, but the day was still going ok.
Then Emma, my 14-year-old, told me she needed a haircut that night because she wanted to look cute for a concert the next day during school. My 12-year-old daughter, Alli, had a softball lesson at 6, so Emma, Alli and I headed out the door as soon as the last little scout was picked up. We went to Great Clips and hoped for a quick cut so we could be on our way.
As I was waiting for Emma, I thought I heard her say "Mom....", but she wasn't looking my way when I looked up. After the third time, I went to see what was going on. That's when I noticed Emma was uncontrollably SOBBING. She had wanted her side bangs trimmed shorter so she can leave them down, but the hairstylist had cut half of her bangs straight across her eyebrows. I tried to calm Emma down so the rest of the bangs could be cut because it had to be done at that point. I didn't mind the new look, but Emma was, and still is, devastated. I sent Emma and Alli to the car so I could pay and smooth things over with the stylist. Emma stayed in the car during Alli's softball lesson, dramatically mourning the loss of her bangs. I explained that no, she could not stay home from school tomorrow, and no, her life was not over.
I hated to leave Emma home in that condition, but I had made plans with my newly divorced friend who hasn't gotten out of the house in quite a while. We walked into a nice quiet restaurant, and she immediately recognized a "lady" who had been "extra friendly" with her husband. It was after they'd been separated, but it still stung. But the kicker of the whole thing is that the "lady" was wearing a product that is sold exclusively by my friend. We think it's most likely that this "lady" took the product from her husband's basement where they were being stored at the time. Luckily, we had a good laugh over it all. Whew! That could have been bad!
We went back to my friend's house to find some headbands that might help Emma hold her bangs back for the next few months. That's when I got a panicked call from Emma. I thought she was still worked up about her bangs, but she told me she had cut her knee open and needed to go to the emergency room. She was getting up on a bed and put her knee on a pair of sharp scissors. Ew, I know. I rushed home, and texted a photo to my husband, TJ, who was working at the fire station. I could post that picture, but ew. He told me it didn't look like it needed stitches, but I needed to use a couple band aids to pull it shut. I did my best and then cleaned up the blood, some of which had gotten on the dog's tail. Emma was hysterical, still partly overreacting from her hair, and partly justifiably from her knee. I caved in and told her she could stay home from school the next morning. As I was getting her some ibuprofen, I noticed a bottle of sleeping pills. Perfect. Emma is old enough for a sleeping pill, right? Right.
I called the school in the morning blubbering something about Emma staying home because she hurt her knee. I knew it sounded lame, and my attempt to over-explain only made it worse. I came home over my lunch hour the next day, and Emma was happy, ready to go to school, and looked beautiful with her bangs pulled back. Isn't she pretty!
