I’m tired of stupid people. No,
I didn't know that I had two red heads....I have no idea where they came from.
They won't leave me alone. And they expect me to feed them.
I’m sure more than
one mother heard me, and whispered to her kids “see darlings, this is why we
take naps.” Of course, it was in Costco, so maybe they figure these were two
strays following me around looking for more samples. All I can say, I have seen
my limit, and it is one too many comments about the follicle shading of my
children.
So this is something
I’ve learned as a mother. Red heads garner attention. Everyone was a red head
as a child. Seriously, there’s no way that the red hair gene can be dying out,
because every single person lets me know how they were a red head as a child.
My first experience
with the lack of fore thought that red hair seems to produce in others was when
Baba was rolling around in Home Depot with me. She was still in the “freshly
hatched” stage, no more than a few months old. Anyway, a well intentioned lady
gasped as we walked by and exclaimed “Did you know your baby has red
hair??!!” Me “Oh dear god!! This isn’t
my baby….where did she go???”
Okay, not really.
I’ve long regretted that I wasn’t quicker on my feet with a retort. Rather, I
just stared at her blankly and hoped that she didn’t vote. In all fairness,
Baba was a “bald is beautiful” baby and maybe the lady didn’t think that I had
looked at my child in the sunlight. Ever. Because, that was the only way you
could see her hair. In the sun, it looked like her head had been spray painted
orange.
So there I was,
enjoying ladies oohing and ahhing over my first born. I also learned from the
gaggle that gathered that true red heads are one in a million. So my little red
head is one in a million, along with her brother.
I have to admit, I
loved the conversation starter that Baba’s hair was, and still is. It seems
that people believe that babies belong to the world, and red heads belong to
the universe or something. But my enjoyment diminished after the birth of Baby,
my magical imp. She was blessed with the most astounding ringlets you have ever
seen, brown ringlets. Now, Baby is, so far at least, the only child who at a passing
glance, actually looks like she belongs with her father and me. I was always a
bit concerned, when marching out of a store with a screeching red head, that
security might just stop me and ask where the abused child’s mother was and why
am I trying to steal the red head. Baby, she matches.
But Baby was quick to
pick up on the fact that she did not have red hair. Nor had she been visited by
“Miss Clariol” as more than one lady
asked Baba. Seriously, my 18 month old is upside down in the grocery cart,
trying to escape me, and you want to know if I dye her hair. Be impressed that
she’s wearing matching socks and move on. This was before TLC decided to head
down the path of Total Lack of Control and starting airing toddler beauty
pageants. Never thought I’d root against my fellow moms, but scream baby
scream……..
Baby’s held her own,
with all the attention on her siblings, but I still have a crush on the Costco
food court employee who started down at my three children waiting at the
counter, locked eyes with Baby and said “You’re a movie star aren’t you? I think
I’ve seen you in the movies. You are so pretty, you have to be a movie star.”
It still makes me teary think about it, although, I would have appreciated “You
are so pretty, you must be a mom” but then again, she was in kindergarten, so
maybe not.
I thought I had
prepared myself for pretty much any question about my children. And in all
honesty, the question “are they both yours?” makes sense, when the wildly
divergent appearances of my girls. But the question “Do they both have the same
dad?” well now, that’s not going to provoke much understanding from me. I don’t
know if the poor kid deserved my snapped “Yes, I’m not a slut” response, but I
felt better.
I also reacted rather
strongly to the comment “you are so lucky to have two red heads”. The comment
itself is neither right nor wrong, but it was uttered in front of my little
magical Baby. So I let loose with
“I am NOT lucky because I have two red headed children. I am blessed
because I have THREE healthy, happy, wild, precocious, smart, delightful
hooligans who call me mom. The red hair is a nice touch, but it's fleeting. And
brown ringlets are just as lovely, thank you very much.”
Maybe a bit over the
top, but it was my mama grizzly coming out. I hope Baby heard me.
When we lived on Evergreen along with you all and the Harper's, I took Elizabeth who at the time was maybe 2 with silky brown hair and white skin along with Philip who was also around 3 with warm brown skin and short black hair to the grocery store with me. As we were standing in front of all the cereal, a woman says to me, "are they twins?" I said, "yes, identical" and walked off. Still to this day I can't believe she asked me and that I actually thought quickly enough! Love your writing and as I have said before, you need to write a book!!!
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