History Lessons for Dar

I find myself telling Darby, my oldest, lots of stories about what things were like when I was young. That is such an old woman thing to do, but I can't seem to help myself, which is also just like an old woman, too. I am in awe at how the eighties are popping up everywhere, particularly clothing and shoes, music, pop culture, etc. And Darby does not even know that it is all 80s material - she thinks it is unique. The skinny jeans on boys with skinny ties, the blousy tunics with leggings, the retro tennis shoes, the music. I tried on a jacket at Macy's recently and immediately a Michael Jackson song popped in my head because of the zippers, the asymmetrical details, and the military cut.

Darby also knows nothing about the music. She has a friend that rides her bus and he entertains her with songs that she calls "these funny little parodies", but it is really songs by Weird Al Yankovic. How did I let her get to the age of 10 with no Weird Al knowledge? She knows the words to "I'm Fat", but does not know that it is a parody of Michael Jackson, whom she also does not know. I found a single Weird Al song in our music library, "Canadian Idiot," and she does not quite get that song because she has never seen Strange Brew. My clever girl has a lot to learn - and I have a lot of culture lessons to conduct...

Roller Girl

I attempted to straighten the girls' hair this weekend. It is technically straight, but not in an ideal form. In an effort to salvage my hours of labor-intensive work, I instituted the use of hot rollers. My eldest spawn questioned my ability to roll up her hair. Babe, I lived through the 80's, I can rock-n-roll the rollers.

They helped (somewhat) and then she let me take her picture. There's nothing like getting embarrassed by your mom...