A Minor Triumph

I want to start this by saying that Chloe has possibly the cutest ears I have ever seen in my life. And I daresay that I have never loved a little pair more than hers. Every time I think of them, it takes me back to my first few days as her mother. I must have lovingly inspected her brand new little body 500,000 times. The perfect little hands. The eensy, weensy toes. The darling little nose. So very sweet and magnificent and tiny. But her ears were what really got me. When I discovered that Chloe's ears were EXACTLY the same as Carter's (except in miniature), I was struck by what a miracle Chloe was. She belonged unquestionably to Carter and that made me love her all the more. To see something that I thought was so cute about my husband made manifest in our new little offspring felt terribly profound to me at the time. Okay, so I was a hopped up on postpartum hormones and was more than a little sleep deprived. But I highly doubt I am the only new mother to be guilty of such sap. Still, to this day, I get such a kick out of her little elfin ears.

Chloe, on the other hand, hates her ears almost as fiercely as I love them. She maintains that her ears are "private" (her word) and puts up a MAJOR fight whenever I attempt a hairstyle that shows them off. I try to explain that if you want to have long hair AND participate in the see-how-many-days-it-is-possible-to-go-without-washing it contest, you're gonna have to have a ponytail day sooner or later. This morning we had yet another one of these stand-offs.

Thankfully, I had a plan. Armed with a new stash of hair ribbons procured from Michael's this weekend and feeling inspired by one of my favorite old-school 80's hairdos, I convinced her to let me try an experiment. Chloe was skeptical as I worked. Here's a sample of our conversation:

Chloe: What if the boys make fun of me?
Me: Well, have the boys ever made fun of you before?
Chloe: No.
Me: Have you seen them make fun of someone else?
Chloe: No.
Me: I think you're safe, then.

Huh, I wonder which parent she got those excellent worrying skills from? She is her mother's daughter as much as her father's. I'm telling you, people, reproduction is amazing!

Here's how it all turned out:



When she saw it in the mirror, she approved and went off to the bus as happy as a clam. Of course, I had to recreate the look for Piper also. But I'm just relieved she's giving ponytails a go. I suspect this look might become all the rage around this house.

But how can I get her to understand what a miracle her ears are?!?