Sisterly Assistance

I am failing to write in the kids' journals the way I would like so my attempt to remember some of the funnier things that happen need to be chronicled here. This is one such incident.

The week school started I ran errands, leaving the eldest in charge of the clan. Things typically go off without too many difficulties, but not this day. Upon my return I walked into the house to see my youngest daughter walk out of the little boys bedroom, starting to cry. I noticed before she ran into the bathroom that there was some blotchy redness between her eyes but thought very little about it, after all, she was upset. Just as soon as she ran past the eldest daughter emerged from the room with her hands covering her mouth, with a look of deep empathy on her face, saying, "I'm soooooo sorry."

Now let me tell you, this was not the look of "Ok, I'll apologize" sort of thing. This was genuine concern. This concerned me.

When I asked what happened this is the story I got. It appears that the upcoming teenager wanted to, with all sincerity, help her younger sister with a cosmetic issue. Remember how I said there was some red blotchiness between the eyebrows, well, this "issue" happened to involve the exercising of the newly aquired skill of plucking! Yes, my older daughter wanted to help her younger sister get a jump start on her unwanted hair.

As if the process wasn't damaging enough to the young fragile skin, the kicker was the elder sis determined the project was bigger than the talents of a tweezer and that a little trim would take better care of the "problem." May I just say that the hand of an almost teenager was not at all steady. I observed the artwork with some not-so-visible dismay.

I comforted the younger child with the reassurance that it wasn't that noticeable for the first day of school and that it would for sure grow back. I also took the opportunity to teach them both that 1) their body is their own and that at no time do you ever let someone do something to you that is invasive, 2) there is an age to which plucking begins and it is not 9, and 3) that any rite of passage into womanhood is first dealt with by ME.

For now we will leave the plucking to the oldest two women in the house and fill in the missing spots with a very light touch of eye brow pencil. Girls!!!