Hair-raising family tales
My dad needed a haircut the other night, and while he can do his own head, I have to shave his neck and create a straight(-ish) line along the back. This happens about once a month or so, and should have happened before he did his annual farm trip, but I was really busy then and he ended up not wanting to bother me. That meant he was a little Sasquatch-y this month, but not too bad, and when I finished he said, I feel like a new man. Well, good.
Today, for a little parental parity, I had to dye mom's hair. Just the roots, thankfully, but it still involved gloves and the smell of ammonia. I've never dyed anyone's hair, so this was a new experience, and it turned out we missed a spot behind her left ear, but I kept saying it just looks like highlights since while the roots there aren't entirely covered, the hair does blend in a little. I did try to spread out the dye, after going too heavy with it in the first place I put it, the crown of her head, but at least now I know for next time. And while this is something mom has done before by herself, I can see why having a second person is helpful. Since mom is far more critical than dad, I've avoided doing this in the past, but I acquiesced this time and it wasn't too bad.
More than once this weekend, I've joked about putting in a hairdresser's chair in their bathroom. This may not be such a bad idea at this point.
But wait, there's more. I was thinking about calling grandma today, since I haven't talked to her in a while, but she beat me to the punch. How exciting, I get to use the new phone! Except when I went to pick it up, and I pressed the button I thought I needed to press to answer the phone, nothing happened. I soon realized why: When I tried again, the screen read "Line in use." Mom had picked it up upstairs. We can't have a second person talking on an extension anymore. That's kind of a bummer. However, these phones have speaker buttons, so even though I wasn't talking to her, I could still hear grandma's end of the conversation in addition to mom's. Better, mom even hit that button on purpose, not accidentally. Knowing her, I sort of wondered.
Just before grandma called, mom wanted something to eat, but when she went to turn on the lights in both the kitchen and eating area, none worked. Now, dad is outside using a wood chipper, since he trimmed our big evergreen tree out front yesterday (this means I get more sun in through my one window, since instead of blocking it, the tree now only goes about halfway up that window), and the outlet he plugged it into on the deck must have tripped one of the kitchen breakers. Everything else seemed fine--microwave, refrigerator, coffee machine, stove. But my mother can't stop and go, oh, I think X caused Y, and just started yelling in a panicky voice. Mom, it's fine. And when dad stopped what he was doing for a minute, he took care of things and the lights are back on, yay. But...yeah. Dad's sort of like that kid in the Subaru commercial at times, where when he touches things, stuff goes wrong.
I even have a different dad story to show that he can get like mom at times. I'd been upstairs and heard my parents, er, loudly discussing something. Turns out it was regarding when the election will be held. I think the news said it was 32 days away at that point. My father was absolutely insisting that it was November 1st, the first Tuesday. This was when I got downstairs and went, uh, no, it's the first Tuesday *after* the first Monday in November, so it's November 8th this year. And then I happened to look at the calendar, where, clearly marked, it said November 8th was election day. That was probably the happiest my mother had been all day. Dad of course had to save face and claim a calendar at work said the wrong date. Uh-huh. Sure. Because his literacy skills have never been called into question. Oh well. At least they're amusing.
Today, for a little parental parity, I had to dye mom's hair. Just the roots, thankfully, but it still involved gloves and the smell of ammonia. I've never dyed anyone's hair, so this was a new experience, and it turned out we missed a spot behind her left ear, but I kept saying it just looks like highlights since while the roots there aren't entirely covered, the hair does blend in a little. I did try to spread out the dye, after going too heavy with it in the first place I put it, the crown of her head, but at least now I know for next time. And while this is something mom has done before by herself, I can see why having a second person is helpful. Since mom is far more critical than dad, I've avoided doing this in the past, but I acquiesced this time and it wasn't too bad.
More than once this weekend, I've joked about putting in a hairdresser's chair in their bathroom. This may not be such a bad idea at this point.
But wait, there's more. I was thinking about calling grandma today, since I haven't talked to her in a while, but she beat me to the punch. How exciting, I get to use the new phone! Except when I went to pick it up, and I pressed the button I thought I needed to press to answer the phone, nothing happened. I soon realized why: When I tried again, the screen read "Line in use." Mom had picked it up upstairs. We can't have a second person talking on an extension anymore. That's kind of a bummer. However, these phones have speaker buttons, so even though I wasn't talking to her, I could still hear grandma's end of the conversation in addition to mom's. Better, mom even hit that button on purpose, not accidentally. Knowing her, I sort of wondered.
Just before grandma called, mom wanted something to eat, but when she went to turn on the lights in both the kitchen and eating area, none worked. Now, dad is outside using a wood chipper, since he trimmed our big evergreen tree out front yesterday (this means I get more sun in through my one window, since instead of blocking it, the tree now only goes about halfway up that window), and the outlet he plugged it into on the deck must have tripped one of the kitchen breakers. Everything else seemed fine--microwave, refrigerator, coffee machine, stove. But my mother can't stop and go, oh, I think X caused Y, and just started yelling in a panicky voice. Mom, it's fine. And when dad stopped what he was doing for a minute, he took care of things and the lights are back on, yay. But...yeah. Dad's sort of like that kid in the Subaru commercial at times, where when he touches things, stuff goes wrong.
I even have a different dad story to show that he can get like mom at times. I'd been upstairs and heard my parents, er, loudly discussing something. Turns out it was regarding when the election will be held. I think the news said it was 32 days away at that point. My father was absolutely insisting that it was November 1st, the first Tuesday. This was when I got downstairs and went, uh, no, it's the first Tuesday *after* the first Monday in November, so it's November 8th this year. And then I happened to look at the calendar, where, clearly marked, it said November 8th was election day. That was probably the happiest my mother had been all day. Dad of course had to save face and claim a calendar at work said the wrong date. Uh-huh. Sure. Because his literacy skills have never been called into question. Oh well. At least they're amusing.