Handy “how-to”s*

By Mir
October 29, 2005

How to… sleep in in the morning:
Give the children permission to rise and fetch their own breakfasts, play downstairs, and watch cartoons. You should be able to grab an extra hour of sleep before the screaming becomes too loud. This approach is not recommended if you will be troubled by any of the following–
A) Trails of pop-tart crumbs
B) Milk spilled on the floor
C) 325 pieces of dollhouse furniture set out like a wee furniture warehouse showfloor all over the living room floor
D) Your son wearing a pink unitard
E) Your daughter wearing your son’s brand-new dress socks

How to… get the kids to clean up their mess:
Offer to take them to a movie later on if they’re good. Be sure to bring it up again–wistfully–any time they wander off task. “I guess we won’t be able to see that movie, after all,” followed by a heavy sigh, for example, works wonderfully.

How to… avoid buying expensive snacks at the theatre:
Fill baggies for each child with a variety of munchies. Add two more cheez-its to that bag. Now check the first one again. They’re still not even, you know. Weigh them, or count the pieces in each one, or simply start hollering that if everyone does not stop bickering RIGHT NOW they can all go to their rooms while you take their snacks to the movie without them.

How to… locate the tub of orange frosting you signed up to contribute to the Halloween party at school:
Sorry, that one’s impossible. Visit 3 different stores and then just make peace with tinting some vanilla.

How to… give the kids a smooth transition to the time change:
Move bedtime an hour later. Force cranky children to take late showers, and after the fifteenth “Are you about done?” just turn the water off (but you probably want to be wearing earplugs for that part). Blow-dry everyone’s hair so they’re warm and cozy. Lower all storm windows and reset clocks. Explain to tired children that you will not be held responsible for your actions if anyone wakes you before 7:00.

How to… give yourself a smooth transition to the time change:
Catch a cold. You’ll be grateful for the extra hour of sleep, and there’s no worrying about waking up earlier than normal.

How to… adapt to the too-short haircut:
A combination of techniques is recommended–
A) Use plenty of product
B) Pull hair away from the head while blow-drying, to promote fullness and the illusion of longer locks
C) Wear more make-up
D) When all else fails… wear a hat

How to… mark time while waiting for your too-short haircut to grow out:
Shave off all your pubic hair. For one thing, it’ll make the hair on your head seem long in comparison. For another, your head will seem less horribly exposed than the… ummm… other scalped area. Finally, by the time your bush grows back in, you know your hair will be that much longer as well.

*All of the foregoing are suggestions only, and the author claims no responsibility for individual results nor admits to having personally experienced any of the actions discussed herein. It can, however, be stated for the record that Wallace and Gromit rock my socks.

15 Comments

  1. Magnolia Mom

    Now that is funny, but I know what ya mean!

  2. Heather

    Oooh I totally hope I’m oging to see Wallace and Gromit tomorrow. I guess I can go whether I go with the boy or not, huh? Heh. Right.

  3. buffi

    I strongly advise against that last one. Itchy, itchy, itchy. (or so I’ve heard)

    And the time change? My husband tried keeping the boys up later. I finally intervened when the whining reached critical levels. I couldn’t take it any more. I’m sure the hangover had nothing to do with that.

  4. Bob

    The in-growing hairs will certainly provide a diversion from your new hairdo. If something has you by the short and curlies it will mean a headlock for the time being.

    By the way, wallace and gromit rule! Chicken Run didn’t count (for me) as Nick Park’s first full length movie as neither wallace nor gromit were in it. If you haven’t seen the 3 other wallace & gromit films, you’re missing out.

  5. Chookooloonks

    “Shave off all your pubic hair.” Hmm. Interesting concept.

    Question: Does this also mean you must expose your pubic hair, the better for the general public to make the comparison with your too-short haircut?

    I’m just askin’.

  6. DebR

    Ok, I reallyReally hope you didn’t do numbers six and eight. Six because no one wants a cold. Yuck. And eight because what Buffi said. Of course I guess constant scratching of your pubic area in a week or so could count as a distraction from your haircut, but I wouldn’t call it a GOOD distraction. I’m just saying…

  7. DebR

    Ok, I reallyReally hope you didn’t do numbers six and eight. Six because no one wants a cold. Yuck. And eight because what Buffi said. Of course I guess constant scratching of your pubic area in a week or so could count as a distraction from your haircut, but I wouldn’t call it a GOOD distraction. I’m just saying…

  8. Jules

    Well I failed miserably at the time change transition. My little darlings were up at 6:45am. On a Sunday…

  9. Kris

    Mir, you are my long lost mental twin. (Except I learned my lesson after shaving the pubes. It worked though – I was far too distracted by the itching to think about the too short haircut on my head.)

  10. RockStar Mommy

    You only have 325 pieces of dollhouse furniture in your house?!!?! LUCKY!!!!!!!!!

  11. alektra

    I think I’m just going to go with the first bit about chopping off my hair and just be ok with it….

    Yeech! And I hope you feel better…

  12. Lulu

    Have you tried eating more eggs to make your hair grow faster? Seriously. Seymour has to shave his face twice a day if he eats a couple of hard-boiled eggs (egg salad, etc.) 2 days in a row.
    Me, I’ve never noticed eggs accelerate anything…I wonder if eggs cooked other ways would help as well?? (In cake doesn’t count. I think.)

  13. Lulu

    Have you tried eating more eggs to make your hair grow faster? Seriously. Seymour has to shave his face twice a day if he eats a couple of hard-boiled eggs (egg salad, etc.) 2 days in a row.
    Me, I’ve never noticed eggs accelerate anything…I wonder if eggs cooked other ways would help as well?? (In cake doesn’t count. I think.)

  14. Lulu

    UGH. I hate it when a twitchy finger makes one post a dumb comment twice.

    Said twitch probably caused by thinking about shaved privates. Brrr.

  15. Cyndi

    Oh. My. Gawd.

    You forever…:

    A. …make me happy I don’t have kids. [Some days I am happy YOU have them, however, as they seem to give you joy]

    B. …give me a stomachache from laughing.

    and

    C. …remind me of stuff I should never do…again. LOL

    Do not do the shaving of the pubic hair. It’s funny for 30 seconds. It’s itchy and distracting for weeks. Of course, it could help with the D-word, I hear some guys find that behavior very attractive… ;D

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