One small but fun benefit from private school is enjoying random days off from school when the rest of the community is at school. So on this very rainy wet day off, I thought it would be a great idea to go see Alice in Wonderland and let the twins bring a friend from school. To pull off this great plan (the 12:20 Matinee show) I needed help from the husband because I had to keep my early morning hair color appointment (standing 3 week schedule with Greta to keep the dark brown weeds aka: roots at bay. This is what twin b has called them since she was 4). Upon leaving the house the sun was shining and the sky was blue, leading me to believe this was going to be a beautiful day. I donned my favorite worn only on sunny days, brown suede maryjane flats adorned with 3 large rhinestone jewels, my ripped up jeans and a t-shirt and was out the door and on time for my appointment. Husband would pick up the friend and meet me at the theatre.
Greta was in swift form this morning and had her own plan to "adjust" my hair color, ok no problem as long as I'm out of here on time, I'm easy. She did her magic and transformed my unruley hair into smooth soft tresses like only she can do. This process takes forever which is why my favorite "go to look" is a ponytail and I 'm good to go. However, when Greta does my hair, that is a whole other thing. I want to milk the perfect look for as long as I possibly can. The weather had it's own plan.....RAIN! I have no hat, no coat, no umbrella. Have you ever seen the movie The Gremlins? Well, that's what happens to my hair when it gets wet. Not good.
For a girl who loves the rain but hates wasting money I decided to be MacGuyvor. I took a plastic bag cut it open a bit and placed it on my head. I looked like I was wearing a dunce cap. But so worth it! I made it to the car where my umbrella was waiting for me. My shoes however could not withstand the puddles, the leather soles soaking up the water like a dry sponge, the suede shrinking up like a flattened pancake. Ugh! I drove to the theatre with the floorboard heater blasting in a futile attempt to save my shoes.
Upon arriving at the movie theatre, the girls exercised their ever growing independent muscles and sat 2 rows ahead of us, they had never done this before, but since we were the only people in the theatre with the exception of 2 others, I thought this was ok. With their friend sandwiched inbetween them like an oreo cookie, we could hear them laughing, whispering and sharing popcorn. The movie was good although my husband thought it was a bit too long and looked like he could doze off. Johnny Depp's makeup was incredible!
Thinking I had carried off a successful outing, not withstanding soggy shoes, I suggested to my husband that we go get a late lunch after we dropped off their guest . How could I have known that my suggestion was going to result in mayhem and sad feelings. I suggested that twin B come with me to wait at the restaurant and twin A go with my husband to take their friend home. You would have thought I lost her blankey. Long long face and deffining silence. What had I done? After sitting in the car with twin B and talking about this she explained to me that the "play date" isn't over until you drop off the friend. She said, "you still get to talk in the car until you get to her house" . Wow!! I missed that one. I explained my sadness that I didn't mean to cut off her time and only give it to her twin (built in competition in twin world) and that I didn't care for her "unappreciative" attitude. She explained she was thankful for the movie and taking a friend but still sadness prevailed all through lunch from her.
So soggy shoes and sour attitude, not quite how I planned our rainy no school day but there it is. 23 years of parenting now and I'm still learning. That's the great thing about parenting you get to try again tomorrow. At the end of the day I'm glad my girls know that sharing how you feel is very important to finding solutions for the future and to feeling understood. Sometimes I forget what it's like to be in the 4th grade.
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