1. yucky words (no swear words yet thank goodness!)
2. candy from friends
3. homework
4. dirt and paint on their clothes
5. graded work (all good so far)
6. tragic stories of who is being nice today and who isn't
7. occasionally stolen goods (money from Eastons classroom)
8. new found attitudes and gestures that annoy mom
9. a sense of independence
and
10. HEAD LICE!
Ryan and I went into red alert, lock down mode when we found them (last night). Ryan bought war supplies (a RID kit) and I psyched myself up for the battle. Today all members of the family received a nasty RID shampoo job, all four boys received buzz cuts and Parker and Makay got chopped. (I know, sorry mom.)
Parkers hair (the source of the problem) was the worst. She has incredibly thick hair and it was past her chin. That's not long for most peoples standards but for her, it's a lot of work to keep up that much hair. Ryan was two seconds away from buzzing her head and just buying her some scarfs to cover it up. After many tears she talked me into just cutting it shorter so it would be easier to RID the pests.
Mak thought the whole day was a glamor party and loved getting pampered (her hair cut and two showers). Her hair is much more fine so I didn't have to cut hers as short as Parkers. She looks pretty darn cute.
If Ryan is going to cut someones hair you can bet that he's going to cut it weird first (just for shock value or a few funny pictures) and then finish the job. This time he didn't finish the job. Creed thinks he has "cute hair" and is now demanding to keep it. That's fine by me but he won't be leaving our house until his "bangs" (Parker calls it a third eyebrow) are gone.
I think we put a months worth of laundry through our washing machine for this ordeal. All the sheets, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, coats, hats, clothing, combs and hair accessories that came in contact with anything got washed or boiled. We want this to be over and done with!
So thank you to our public school system for the valuable and memorable experiences that our kids are receiving at your hands.