ponytails and Yao
So I’m driving PinkGirl to drama camp (I’m actually paying for her to learn how to be even MORE dramatic) and she’s in the back seat of the van, gazing dreamily out the window, brushing her own hair (thank you Lord for the small miracles). She suddenly looks at me and asks, “Mommy, why are there ponytails?”
(oooooh! object lesson time!)
So I answer: “Well, I wonder if one day, someone was bending over, working on something or maybe reading a book (subliminal encouragement) and their hair was hanging down and getting in their way. If that happened, I bet they would hold their hair back with their hand. If they were smart and a problem solver, they would think, “Hey, if my hand can hold my hair back, then I wonder what else I can find to hold my hair back!” And they probably found a string or some ribbon or something and invented ponytails!”
I look in the rear view mirror and PinkGirl is looking directly at me (yea! she’s listening!) She’s quiet for a few seconds (obviously pondering my thoughtful explanation) and then she says:
“Yeah. But, Mom, why are there ponytails on this hairbrush handle?”
“oh. Because I put them there the last time I took your ponytails out.”
“oh.”
“Do you have a book back there you can read?”
Meanwhile, FavoriteSon is at basketball camp, continuing to make a name for himself. Not his own name, but the name “Yao.” The varsity basketball players are the coaches at the summer basketball camps and last year they established “Yao” as their nickname for FavoriteSon. The kid is tall. The summer before his 7th grade year, FavoriteSon is 5′7″, which is significantly taller than the other boys at camp. (and three inches taller than me). So, how cool is it that varsity basketball players who spot FavoriteSon walking in the hall between classes greet him with,“Hey, Yao” as he passes by? He’s embracing it. He bought a “Yao Ming” collectible bobble head off of ebay to commemorate his nickname.
He’s changing the theme of his room to “basketball.” Gone will be the 6 foot Star Wars movie theater banner ($5.00 ebay purchase). Replacing it will be a 4 foot wrought iron basketball player ($30 ebay purchase). The bunk beds are on their way out too. They are 6′4″ long, so FavoriteSon is literally outgrowing his own bed. He wanted to paint his room black. If we hadn’t painted it blue less than a year ago, I would consider it, but . . . no. I’m not painting the room again this soon. Maybe an accent wall or a stripe or black blocks or something, but nothing that requires emptying the room and covering everything with dropcloths. His school colors are blue and black, Orlando Magic colors are blue and black. I’ll buy black curtains and a black comforter (ebay). Black furniture (craigslist).
It takes a lot of food to grow a kid this tall. You don’t want to take him out for sushi without maxing out your ATM withdrawal limit first.
