BEAR!!!1!!

May 2, 2007

Tonight I came home with my children from one of their baseball games. As I pulled into the driveway I noticed that our garbage can was knocked down and garbage was strewn around the side of the house.

Before I could even stop the van, I noticed a bear, sitting on the stone wall the divides our property from our neighbors. With a big bag of our garbage hanging out of it’s mouth.

We sat inside the van watching him for awhile. I felt like I was in that movie Cujo.

We finally decided to make a break for it and run into the house. Which was probably more dramatic than it needed to be. But all I could imagine was the bear suddenly running up behind us and tackling us to the ground and eating us.

Once we were safely inside the house we ran to the windows and stared at the bear. I took lots of blurry photos since I had children pushing me and trying to jockey for position at the window I was look out. Because we don’t have like 3000 other windows in our house.

And then another bear … a friend of the bear, stopped by. It was too dark at that point for my camera to work. But there were TWO BEARS!! in my yard. Tearing up my garbage, knocking over my bird feeders, climbing my trees. CLIMBING MY TREES!

Miles was most upset when he saw the bear dig one of his diapers out of the trash and the EAT it! Yes, you read that correctly. For the rest of the night Miles kept saying, “Bear ate my POOP, mama.” It was very distressing for the poor tyke. he feels such ownership over those dirty diapers. He doesn’t even like anyone else to throw them away. And now, here was a bear eating one. Wonder how many therapy sessions this will cost me one day.

I feel like I need to go outside with my children now whenever they play… with some high powered hunting rifle for protection. In case the bear decides that one of my little kids is a tasty afternoon snack.

Her First Real Haircut

May 1, 2007

My daughter’s hair has turned into a scraggly mop. She hates having it brushed. She hates wearing “pretties” to hold her hair back out of her face. Unless she puts them in herself, which is not exactly an attractive look either. I suppose I could just get over myself and let her do what she wants with her hair, since it is her hair.

But I am a control freak.

This is what her hair usually looks like on any given day. The front section is at least 6 inches shorter than the back. And it looks like she has a permanent case of bed head. Or like she is growing out a mullet. Which I swear she has never had.

It might not be a bad look if you were a medieval scullery maid.

But on a 21st century toddler? Not so attractive.

So this morning I could take no more and made an appointment at the hairdresser. I called it the beauty parlor thinking it would make the place more enticing for her. Turns out I need not have worried. She had no problem getting into it.

And wished I would wash her hair every night in a special sink.

I wasn’t so sure about the bangs. Thinking about all the growing them out horror stories, including my own. Which is why I still have bangs 30 years later. But then I thought about not having to look at hair in her face, or seeing it dragged into her mouth while she eats, and trying to get the dried food out of the front while she thrashes about like I am Edward Scissorhands. Bangs seemed like the logical choice.

Suddenly she looks like a big kid with real hair.