Kids come up with the most amazing games. They also come up with amazing ways to manipulate their Momma. Check out this game:
I give them lunch, then proceed to work on cleaning the kitchen while they eat.
They say thank you for lunch.
I say, "You're welcome," while still focusing on dishes.
They repeat, "Thank you."
I want to encourage them to say thank you, so I respond with a polite, "You're welcome."
Then they get louder. "Thank you!"
I match their volume. "You're welcome!"
They vary the pattern a bit. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
This is becoming routine. And I have dishes to focus on. "You're welcome, you're welcome, you're welcome!"
They try whispering. "Thank you."
I unconciously whisper back. "You're welcome."
Then they sing. "Thank you."
I sing. "You're welcome."
That's the best one yet. They sing louder. "Thank you!"
I can play that game. "You're welcome!"
Oh, singing is lots of fun! "Thaaaaaaaaaaaank yooooooooooouuuu!"
I'm starting to get into the spirit of things now. "Yoooooooooo're WEEEEEEEEEEELcooooooooooome!"
Before I know it, I'm mimicking the music from Phantom of the Opera while holding a dishrag. I finally realize what has been going on, and where it has led me, and thank my lucky stars that nobody was there to hear me.
I love my kids.
P.S. They love this game, and now try to get me to play whenever they can.
P.P.S. Our next performance is tomorrow at lunchtime, should you care to drop by!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Curly Girl
Friends, I'm a curly girl. It's a new thing. It's also... a whole lot of fun. And, since I mentioned it in the last post and got a lot of interest, I'm going to post a very quick, Chelsea-style tutorial.
First, I'm going to recommend you read the book Curly Girl, because it's awesome and gives a lot more tips and tricks than I know off-hand.
The HOOK:
Do you have curly hair? Do you think you have curly hair? Is your hair pretty when it's wet and frizzy when it dries? Do you worry about anything ever touching your hair after you've gotten it perfect because you'll have to get it wet and re-style it to make it look decent again? Do you wear hats, braids, and ponytails to tame the mop that is your hair? You, my friend, might be a curly girl!
The THEORY:
Curls are, naturally, very dry. That's just the way they're built. And, almost everything we do to them is damaging. Straightening, blow-drying, going for a walk outside in the sunshine, going for a walk outside in the wind... everything dries it out and damages it. That often makes hair look straight when it's actually curly. So, we moisturize!
The DON'Ts:
-Shampoo is a no-no. Even the gentle stuff will give you frizz that is virtually unmanageable.
-Brushing your hair will only separate your curls and you will end up with, that's right, more frizz.
-This is a soft no, because blow-drying can give you a softer, bigger, bouncier look than air drying. I like it, but blow-drying curls just adds to the damage.
The DOs:
-Condition your hair. A lot.
-Towel-dry your hair, and let it air-dry periodically.
-Consider doing a deep-treatment to your hair once a week or so. I'm still experimenting with things like mayonnaise and olive oil, but do some research and set aside thirty minutes of you time with your hair up in a shower cap getting infused with moisture.
The METHOD:
-When you first get in the shower, let your head hang back and just let water run through your hair for a couple minutes, like being in a waterfall. Don't touch your head yet. Just let your hair get wet.
-Then, using your fingers, gently massage your scalp. Try not to disrupt your curls; just agitate all of your skin for a couple minutes to loosen any oils and dirt that may be trapped there. Rinse your hair.
-Once or twice a week, massage your head with conditioner and rinse out, just to help loosen oils and keep your scalp from getting too dry.
-Then, apply conditioner. Put a small dollop in the middle of your palm, rub it between your hands, and smooth it over the top of your hair. Pay special attention to the very top of your head. Don't massage it in, just smooth over the top. If you need more conditioner, feel free to use it. Make sure you cover the "canopy" of your hair with conditioner. Put another small dollop of conditioner in your hand, rub it between your hands, and work it through the bottom and underside of your hair. I usually flip all my hair to one side, condition the bottom, then flip it over to the other side, and repeat with more conditioner. (But then, I have a LOT of hair.) I also apply a little bit more to the sides of my hair.
-As you are conditioning, gently finger-comb through your hair. This is where you get out all the tangles and make sure the conditioner is evenly distributed. You will lose some hairs in this process, but that's normal. You typically lose about 100 hairs a day anyway. As you are finger-combing, your hair should feel like wet seaweed. You can put your hair under the faucet for a couple seconds if needed to help evenly distribute the conditioner. I usually don't.
-Don't rinse out the conditioner. It becomes your moisturizer and your product all in one. (That part weirded me out at first. I can accept not shampooing my hair, but then not even rinsing out the conditioner? Crazy. I tell you what though, it works!)
-Don't wring out your hair. I usually flip it over upside down while I'm still in the shower and scrunch it a bit just to encourage the curl.
-When you get out of the shower, towel it dry. (I actually use an old t-shirt I cut up, because it helps reduce frizz.) Don't rub it, or squeeze it. Treat your curls delicately! Instead, flip your hair upside down and, starting at the tips, scrunch your hair up toward your head with the towel. Flip your hair to either side and do the same thing. Then, leave them alone for a few minutes while you get dressed.
-The book says to use a little bit of gel at this point, scrunched up into your curls the same way you towel-dried it. I found I didn't like the gel so much; it just made my hair heavy. Feel free to experiment with different products and methods. Different hair likes different stuff!
TIPS AND TRICKS:
-If you blow-dry your hair, make sure to use a diffuser, and blow-dry from the bottem up, scrunching it with your blow-drier the same way you did with your towel. (There are a bunch of videos on you-tube that will show you how to do this.)
-Curly hair looks better with a bit of volume on top. I was always afraid of volume, because my hair is naturally so big, but since going curly, I've started to encourage the roots to lift a bit more by flipping my hair upside-down or sticking a couple of claw clips in the top just to lift it as it dries. Maybe that's where I should use the gel... on my roots! Oooh....
-This process takes a couple of weeks to really start to look good. You'll notice a difference in the first day or two, but give your hair time to heal. Expect to have awesome hair in 2-3 weeks.
-Layers can look AWESOME with curly hair!
-The first few days are a little weird, and you do have to do some experimenting with what your hair likes best, but seriously, this is the easiest, most worry-free, most fun, best way I've ever styled my hair.
Good luck and have fun!
First, I'm going to recommend you read the book Curly Girl, because it's awesome and gives a lot more tips and tricks than I know off-hand.
The HOOK:
Do you have curly hair? Do you think you have curly hair? Is your hair pretty when it's wet and frizzy when it dries? Do you worry about anything ever touching your hair after you've gotten it perfect because you'll have to get it wet and re-style it to make it look decent again? Do you wear hats, braids, and ponytails to tame the mop that is your hair? You, my friend, might be a curly girl!
The THEORY:
Curls are, naturally, very dry. That's just the way they're built. And, almost everything we do to them is damaging. Straightening, blow-drying, going for a walk outside in the sunshine, going for a walk outside in the wind... everything dries it out and damages it. That often makes hair look straight when it's actually curly. So, we moisturize!
The DON'Ts:
-Shampoo is a no-no. Even the gentle stuff will give you frizz that is virtually unmanageable.
-Brushing your hair will only separate your curls and you will end up with, that's right, more frizz.
-This is a soft no, because blow-drying can give you a softer, bigger, bouncier look than air drying. I like it, but blow-drying curls just adds to the damage.
The DOs:
-Condition your hair. A lot.
-Towel-dry your hair, and let it air-dry periodically.
-Consider doing a deep-treatment to your hair once a week or so. I'm still experimenting with things like mayonnaise and olive oil, but do some research and set aside thirty minutes of you time with your hair up in a shower cap getting infused with moisture.
The METHOD:
-When you first get in the shower, let your head hang back and just let water run through your hair for a couple minutes, like being in a waterfall. Don't touch your head yet. Just let your hair get wet.
-Then, using your fingers, gently massage your scalp. Try not to disrupt your curls; just agitate all of your skin for a couple minutes to loosen any oils and dirt that may be trapped there. Rinse your hair.
-Once or twice a week, massage your head with conditioner and rinse out, just to help loosen oils and keep your scalp from getting too dry.
-Then, apply conditioner. Put a small dollop in the middle of your palm, rub it between your hands, and smooth it over the top of your hair. Pay special attention to the very top of your head. Don't massage it in, just smooth over the top. If you need more conditioner, feel free to use it. Make sure you cover the "canopy" of your hair with conditioner. Put another small dollop of conditioner in your hand, rub it between your hands, and work it through the bottom and underside of your hair. I usually flip all my hair to one side, condition the bottom, then flip it over to the other side, and repeat with more conditioner. (But then, I have a LOT of hair.) I also apply a little bit more to the sides of my hair.
-As you are conditioning, gently finger-comb through your hair. This is where you get out all the tangles and make sure the conditioner is evenly distributed. You will lose some hairs in this process, but that's normal. You typically lose about 100 hairs a day anyway. As you are finger-combing, your hair should feel like wet seaweed. You can put your hair under the faucet for a couple seconds if needed to help evenly distribute the conditioner. I usually don't.
-Don't rinse out the conditioner. It becomes your moisturizer and your product all in one. (That part weirded me out at first. I can accept not shampooing my hair, but then not even rinsing out the conditioner? Crazy. I tell you what though, it works!)
-Don't wring out your hair. I usually flip it over upside down while I'm still in the shower and scrunch it a bit just to encourage the curl.
-When you get out of the shower, towel it dry. (I actually use an old t-shirt I cut up, because it helps reduce frizz.) Don't rub it, or squeeze it. Treat your curls delicately! Instead, flip your hair upside down and, starting at the tips, scrunch your hair up toward your head with the towel. Flip your hair to either side and do the same thing. Then, leave them alone for a few minutes while you get dressed.
-The book says to use a little bit of gel at this point, scrunched up into your curls the same way you towel-dried it. I found I didn't like the gel so much; it just made my hair heavy. Feel free to experiment with different products and methods. Different hair likes different stuff!
TIPS AND TRICKS:
-If you blow-dry your hair, make sure to use a diffuser, and blow-dry from the bottem up, scrunching it with your blow-drier the same way you did with your towel. (There are a bunch of videos on you-tube that will show you how to do this.)
-Curly hair looks better with a bit of volume on top. I was always afraid of volume, because my hair is naturally so big, but since going curly, I've started to encourage the roots to lift a bit more by flipping my hair upside-down or sticking a couple of claw clips in the top just to lift it as it dries. Maybe that's where I should use the gel... on my roots! Oooh....
-This process takes a couple of weeks to really start to look good. You'll notice a difference in the first day or two, but give your hair time to heal. Expect to have awesome hair in 2-3 weeks.
-Layers can look AWESOME with curly hair!
-The first few days are a little weird, and you do have to do some experimenting with what your hair likes best, but seriously, this is the easiest, most worry-free, most fun, best way I've ever styled my hair.
Good luck and have fun!
Friday, January 4, 2013
New Year's Resolutions
Hello, all!
Happy New Year!
Hope it's been a good one, so far.
I've had a good one, mostly because we made a turkey dinner for New Year's Eve and I've still got leftovers in the fridge. Turkey sandwiches are my favorite. :)
Also, I have curly hair.
(Don't worry, that last bit was completely unrelated. Although...)
Since we're on the topic, can I tell you about having curly hair? It's pretty awesome.
See, I've always known I had curly hair, but I had no idea what to do with it. It should have been very pretty. Instead, it was frizzy. Unless, of course, I went a day or two without washing it, at which point it became smooth and shiny and straight. That was always fun. And a little gross.
Then, I stopped washing my hair altogether, and it turned super curly and pretty and fun!
Well, that's not entirely true. I also stopped brushing my hair.
There you have it. The secret to curly hair is not washing it or brushing it.
And using a ton of conditioner.
Water + Conditioner - shampoo - brushes and combs = fun, shiny, bouncy, easy easy easy curls.
Welcome to the new year!
:) :) :)
Oh, right. I was supposed to talk about New Year's resolutions.
Typically, I don't believe in them. In fact, I still don't believe in them. Too arbitrary.
However, I have a new goal, which happens to coincide with the New Year, so I'll fudge on a technicality.
This year, I'm going to take pictures. Hopefully, there will be lots of them. Then, once a month, I'll get them printed off. Then, I'll stick them, unceremoniously and un-craftily, into a picture box. The end.
There will be very little editing, little-to-no captioning, and no cutting or glueing. Print and stuff, baby. It may not be much, but in 20 years, I'll be thrilled to have tons of pictures to look through.
This bit of brilliance was my Mom's doing. Thanks, Mom!
Also, I want a puppy. Does anyone else want a puppy?
Happy New Year!
What are you not resolving to do this year?
Happy New Year!
Hope it's been a good one, so far.
I've had a good one, mostly because we made a turkey dinner for New Year's Eve and I've still got leftovers in the fridge. Turkey sandwiches are my favorite. :)
Also, I have curly hair.
(Don't worry, that last bit was completely unrelated. Although...)
Since we're on the topic, can I tell you about having curly hair? It's pretty awesome.
See, I've always known I had curly hair, but I had no idea what to do with it. It should have been very pretty. Instead, it was frizzy. Unless, of course, I went a day or two without washing it, at which point it became smooth and shiny and straight. That was always fun. And a little gross.
Then, I stopped washing my hair altogether, and it turned super curly and pretty and fun!
Well, that's not entirely true. I also stopped brushing my hair.
There you have it. The secret to curly hair is not washing it or brushing it.
And using a ton of conditioner.
Water + Conditioner - shampoo - brushes and combs = fun, shiny, bouncy, easy easy easy curls.
Welcome to the new year!
:) :) :)
Oh, right. I was supposed to talk about New Year's resolutions.
Typically, I don't believe in them. In fact, I still don't believe in them. Too arbitrary.
However, I have a new goal, which happens to coincide with the New Year, so I'll fudge on a technicality.
This year, I'm going to take pictures. Hopefully, there will be lots of them. Then, once a month, I'll get them printed off. Then, I'll stick them, unceremoniously and un-craftily, into a picture box. The end.
There will be very little editing, little-to-no captioning, and no cutting or glueing. Print and stuff, baby. It may not be much, but in 20 years, I'll be thrilled to have tons of pictures to look through.
This bit of brilliance was my Mom's doing. Thanks, Mom!
Also, I want a puppy. Does anyone else want a puppy?
Happy New Year!
What are you not resolving to do this year?
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