The night I fell apart...

I know many of you know this story from me posting it on FB.  I was completely beside myself! :)  I mean, life with our family is kinda crazy all the time; so I'm usually pretty used to it, but this particular night... I lost it. :)

Many of you know that right after our two weeks in Germany, we turned right around to do a 3 week language intensive in Madrid.  We had come back from Germany to find a colony of ants had taken up residence in our kitchen.  You know how they make their little trail, and they each follow each other back and forth along this trail... well, the trail in my kitchen was as wide as my foot!  There were TONS of them. Anyway, we spent our week at home trying to get rid of them and trying to un-pack and then re-pack our family of 6 for 3 weeks in a partially furnished apartment.

I think I was pretty stressed with everything going on, and I didn't even realize it.  The night before we were leaving for Madrid, Wes was talking to his parents on skype; and I decided to cut the boys' hair.  I cut Nathan's hair without any problems... Jonathan was in the wings watching and waiting his turn.  I finished Nathan and then took him to the other bathroom so he could take a bath and get all the hair off of him... normal routine.  We do it every month.  This night just turned out NOT to be normal. 

When I came back, Jonathan had the clippers in his hand and he had just touched it to his scalp. I was an instant too late... JUST missed being able to stop him. It was just too tempting for him... he had to try it out.   I was flustered and scolded him, but for a boy its not that big of a deal.  I caught my breath, and we buzzed it down to a 3.  You could still see the bald spot, but I knew it would grow in fast.  My emotions were still a bit off kilter; but in my head, I knew it wasn't that big of a deal.

How does a boy this cute get into so much mischief???

Fixing it....

A little bit better, right?

I took Jonathan into the bathroom this time so HE could take a bath and rinse off.  It took me a bit longer because I had to get Nathan out and dried off, too.  After getting both boys settled, I headed back to the bathroom.   I was already a bit frazzled, so I was definitely NOT prepared for what I saw.

Carolina (who, previously, had been in with Wes talking to Granddaddy) was sitting on the stool with my scissors in her hand and longs strands of hair all over her PJ's.  This time I didn't just scold.  I screamed... not at Carolina, but just out of unbelief.  I know that every mom has a story like this... I completely expected it to happen.  I just didn't expect it to happen TWICE in a row, on the SAME night, with TWO different kids!

I took the scissors out of Carolina's hands and asked her (ok, maybe more like screeched) "what in the world" she was thinking... yeah, what a thing to ask a 2 year old!  I think my response had just scared her in general.  Momma does not normally act like this!  She just looked at me with big eyes as I picked up strands of hair that had taken us 2 years to get exactly where we wanted them.  I felt like I could hardly breath.  I ran out of the room and threw open the door to the office, where Wes was skyping.  I don't know what I really intended to do, but I couldn't get any to come out of my mouth.  So I gave a silent, exasperated scream (maybe it was more a face, since it was silent... haha...) and shut the door again.  Wes had NO idea what was going on.  He was so confused.  He got off the computer really quick and came in.  I was just sitting there... and so was Carolina.  Poor thing. :)

Wes took over from there, b/c I was done for.  I didn't want to look real close; I didn't want to know the real damage.  :)  He got her cleaned up and headed for bed, all the while talking about how it's more important to be "pretty on the inside," which is something we talk about a lot with her.  This time, I'm not sure if he was saying it more for Carolina or for her Momma. haha... :) 

I followed them into her room, in a daze, I think.  I literally sat on Carolina's floor and just stared.  Wes left to go brush teeth and get waters for everyone; and when he came back in, I was still in the same position.  I totally think I was on overload.  I mean, of all the things we've been through in the past year, I've never quite responded like this... and then, over some silly hair, I totally lost it. 

Sweet Carolina is truly her Daddy's girl.  She enjoys being pretty and wearing lipstick and cute hats, but this night... all she wanted to do was to make me laugh.  She could tell things weren't right, so she got in front of my dazed face and made all sorts of funny faces.  She tried dancing; she tried laughing... none of it helped.  Poor baby.

I didn't pack another thing that night.  I was litereally useless. :) 

The next day, I had a better perspective.  I mean, I could have found her with her eyes poked out!!  And after I finally DID look at the damage, I realized that she actually cut it pretty well.  haha... she literally just cut bangs for herself.  Granted, the ones in the middle were cut all the way to her scalp, but I cut some more to cover it up, and it is "doable."  She doesn't have enough hair to really put in a bow anymore, so we've gone to headbands and hats... thanks to a suggestion from our friend Megan Taylor. :)  Thankfully, crazy-cut hair does not alter a child's personality, and Carolina is still as sweet as can be!