Shave and a Haircut

When Sam is a teenager and we are fighting about dating, driving, college or girls, I need to remember today - our first fight about something somewhat mature. A haircut.

For several months now Sam has been sporting a very shaggy hair "style." I personally think he looks better with a shorter cut, clean cut if you will, but thanks to Justin Beiber, even boys who don't like the Bieb know girls like boys who look like the Bieb.

But the final straw was Sunday during church. Sam's choir was singing and his choir teacher made a special effort to tamp down his hair before their performance. A sign from God (or fairly close - a church choir director) to cut that hair.

So today after school we made a surprise trip to the barber shop. No Cool Cuts. No video games. No toys. The barber shop. Adult men talking about sports and the weather. $1o cash.

The minute the barber finished and Sam got down I knew there was going to be trouble. I know that face and he was holding back anger and tears. He held it in until we got home, then he kicked open the door, threw down his backpack and stamped upstairs.

"Sam! Get down here. I have one thing to say about this, and you'll stand here and listen ... Do you trust me?"

"You mean before today?"

"Do you trust that I want you to be happy and safe?"

"Maybe."

"Well, I do. I want you to be happy. I don't want you to have a bad haircut any more than you do. I wouldn't sit there and let him give you a bad haircut. But moreover, it's hair. It will grow back. Don't you think I've had bad haircuts? Don't you think Dad has had bad haircuts? Don't you think Dad wishes he had hair? So I suggest you man up and find something else to complain about."

After about 30 minutes he came to ask me for a snack as if nothing had happened. I pulled him into the bathroom and showed him how good it could look with some hair gel in it. And he started to turn around.

And then the fountain of truth, Abby, came home. The first thing she said ... "Sam, you don't look so handsome with your hair all gone like that."

Yes, Again

At the risk of sounding completely negligent and irresponsible, my cat Black Cat has disappeared. As always I let him out last Wednesday morning and he hasn't come back. I've put up posters, visited shelters, walked the alley, fielded phone calls from people trying to sell me their cats, and nothing.

He was always a renegade, that cat, so I haven't given up hope that he'll saunter in one of these mornings and give me a head butt. But I do miss him terribly and not knowing where he is is breaking my heart.

I feel a little like God or the patron saint of cats or Mother Nature is mad at me.

Home Again, Home Again

Ice and sleet. No school.

The Bright Side

Now that last week's unprecedented weather is over, I can look back and say, "It wasn't really that bad." The way I see it there were pros and cons to being shut in all week long.

Pro: Quality time with the kids: I could complain about many things from last week but my kids' behavior really isn't one of them. Sure, they were a little stir crazy, but if I overlook that, they were considerate, patient, respectful and yes, even helpful.

Con: Quality time with the kids means we will probably still be in school mid-June - when it's 110 degrees.

Pro: We saved money on utilities: We didn't have hot water from Tuesday until Saturday evening. Even though our water bill isn't inordinately high, I would bet we saved a little by running very little water those five days.

Con: The money we spent on paper plates, cups and silverware, space heaters, pipe warmers, electric blankets, car batteries and food - I was surprised by how much my kids can eat in five days, especially since no one wants to eat the same thing or at the same time.

Pro: Money saved on daily expenses. Over the course of a week we can spend a lot on sundries just going to and from work, running errands at lunch, and filling up the cars. Not so much when you are snowed in.

Con: The urge I had to make up for the spending hiatus by hitting the mall and Target no less than 6 times in 48 hours.

Pro: We ate lots of meals together.

Con: We ate lots of meals together. And mid-morning snacks and cookies (because the oven kept the kitchen warm, of course) and hot chocolate and wine (me, not the kids) and carbs, carbs, carbs. I'm not sure what it is about the cold weather that made me want to eat wads of cookie dough and potato chips all day long.

So, here it is Sunday. Things are mostly back to normal. At least until Tuesday when we are supposed to get the next round of winter weather.

Rock Stars

A couple of weeks back the boys had their end-of-season School of Rock show. For the first performance Bryon stayed home with Abby and I went alone with the boys. We had to be there early to set up so between the set up and the show the boys and I ate bar food and played pool. A fun afternoon together ... in a bar. Bonnie from School of Rock always takes great photos of the kids during their performances. Since I didn't bring the camera I really appreciated these photos she posted on Facebook.

Jake and his teacher, the extraordinarily patient and talented Seth

Sam during his first vocal performance

Not So Fast

OK, so shortly after posting and re-reading the last blog entry, I decided to get up off my sorrowful behind, put on some Berry Bella lip gloss, do a few jumping jacks, make some tea and buy the 500 Days of Summer soundtrack off iTunes.

I'm feeling much better. So much so, I'm going to ignore the banging noises coming from upstairs and the fact that Abby just ran by me with a roll of toilet paper and a bottle of Simple Green that she said was for Jake's butt.

That's Why

Leonardo the Terrible Monster is one of my kids' favorite books. In it, a little monster named Leonardo befriends a boy named Sam who is crying. It turns out that among many other ailments and inconveniences, Sam broke his favorite toy, stubbed his toe, got bird poop in his hair and has a stomachache.

Today I feel a little like Sam. We are on day two of our snow in and it's quickly losing its charm. So, much like the character Sam, I am irritable and restless because:

My feet are freezing and there are rolling blackouts and we have no hot water and laundry is piling up and we have no clean dishes and I can't run the dishwasher and the thermostat says its 50 degrees in here and I'm trying to work under the covers in my bed and the kids won't put on socks and we are out of cat and dog food and Sam's science fair project is due Saturday and the kids have started playing with juice pouches and Abby won't stop sneaking potato chips and I have no idea what's going on in Egypt and my car window is frozen open.

That's why.