Saturday, March 29, 2008

Thud!

Did you hear that? That was the sound of me falling off the "Mommy is perfect" pedestal.

Now, for some time now I have known better than to take Maggie shopping with me when I purchase clothing. The last time I took her with me to Coldwater Creek I was looking for a simple, long-sleeved shirt. I took four or five into the changing room with us, and as I tried them on I found various flaws either with the shirt or with my appearance in the shirt and put them in the discard pile. Each of the shirts got the same response from Maggie though - I'd put it on, give it the once over and turn around, at which point Maggie would say, "Oh Mommy, you're BEAUTIFUL!!!" While good for the ego, it didn't help much in the shirt-buying process.

Apparently, I should have taken Gracie.

Last night the church had a parent's night out - drop off the kids for a fun time at the church and have a few hours of date time. I decided that I wanted to do something different - anything - with my hair, which seems like it has been in the awful growing-it-out-in-between stage forever. So, I pulled out the hot rollers and dusted them off and curled my hair. After I brushed it out, it was. . . well . . . curly and unmanageable instead of the usual straight and unmanageable, so I guess I achieved the desired results. I went into the room where the girls were playing to tell them to pick up and get ready to go, and Gracie says,

"Mommy. . . You look (long pause) funny."

I head back to the mirror, where I fuss with it some more and debate pulling it back. Eventually I tame the curls a little bit and I go back to where the girls are putting on their shoes and say,

"Okay, how does it look now?"

Gracie looks at me carefully and says, "Maybe you should get a hat."

Ouch! I say, "Oh, come on! It's not that bad, is it?"

And Maggie says, "No, it's not." But after the shirt trying-on episode, do I trust her judgement of my appearance?

I decide I didn't care - at least it's not as lifeless as it is every other day of the week, and off we go.

Next time though, Gracie gets to help me shop.

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