Tuesday 5: Haircuts and Power Outages

1. This Tuesday has been one for the books. Today, at school, Gertrude Bell was pushed to the ground by a boy who wanted her seat in the lunchroom. Coincidentally, it’s also International Women’s Day. While her situation was handled immediately by adults, she told us she didn’t say anything when he pushed her. We took the opportunity to remind her that no one can put their hands on her without permission, and that her voice is a powerful tool. “Don’t touch me!” and “Get your hands off me!” are appropriate things to yell. Raising strong women starts when they’re still little. (Edited to add: The International Man of Intrigue also taught her to fight back with fists. Self defense is also her right.)

2. Arthur Dent may have a promising career as a barber. Today, he took it upon himself to cut Laura Ingalls Wilder’s hair. Thankfully, it was not a lot of hair, but it was a sibling haircut all the same. It was also her first haircut. Considering that Gertrude Bell gave herself her first haircut around age three and a half, that means I'm only two for two in the first haircut parenting arena.

3. The dude may not be ready for cosmetology school yet, but one thing we’ve always loved about Arthur Dent is his sensitive side. He used to cry when we read him the book “Llama Llama Misses Mama,” and he cried the first time we told him about Laura Ingalls Wilder. This weekend, we watched the movie “The Good Dinosaur.” We all enjoyed it, but The International Man of Intrigue and I most enjoyed watching Arthur Dent surreptitiously swipe at his eyes with his sleeve during the sad parts of the movie. Afterward, we asked him what he thought. “I thought it was good, but it was weally sad when the daddy died.” Arthur Dent then spent the next 30 minutes attached to The International Man of Intrigue. I’m still melting at the cuteness.

4. If you don’t have Little Explorers of your own, or love my Little Explorers like your own, you can skip this one. The big news in our house today was that Laura Ingalls Wilder finally pooped in the potty. This has been an ongoing struggle, and in an effort to reinforce how great it was, we told everyone. She got to call The International Man of Intrigue at work. Mrs. British Neighbor gave her a chocolate cupcake. In carline to pick up Amelia Earhart and Gertrude Bell, she told all the teachers “A BIG POOP!” This afternoon I caught her singsonging as she walked around the house, “I poop inna potty! I poop inna potty!” 

5. Fellow Adventurers, it’s time to tell you I typed this entire post while sitting in a pitch black house. The power is out in our entire subdivision. Apparently there is a power pole on fire at the back entrance to the subdivision. The power went out at 7 pm and may be back on by 9:30 pm. I’m hopeful, since a previous estimate had it being out all night. And, with that, I’m going to conserve my laptop battery and go find a flashlight and a novel. Until next week, Fellow Adventurers!