Thursday, April 24, 2008

Mirror Mirror

I have this embarrassing habit -- and probably this is TMI -- of sitting in traffic plucking the gray hairs out of my bangs in the rearview mirror. It's ridiculous on a lot of levels.

For one thing, my hair is huge, and I doubt anyone spends much time noticing the white sprouts amid the gigantic auburn explosion all over my head. (Let's just say I fit in perfectly for a brief moment in the 80s in the South.) For another, I don't much care about how I look, as evidenced by the lack of makeup, haircuts, showers, and decent wardrobe. Surely I have bigger battles and more important things to do. Why on earth do I have this vain and pointless habit? The big irony: I squint when I pluck out those hairs, and the squinting is giving me some obvious wrinkles between my eyes. HAH - now that is going to make me vain and self-conscious. And you can't pluck a wrinkle.

Okay, so you realize that my bad metaphor du jour is coming next, so I hope you're going to duck.

My rooster has his own set of gray hairs of a sort, and I don't know why I pick at them sometimes. They aren't important enough to fret over. Yet I do. But if I don't stop I realize I'm could leave some lasting marks.

Does it really matter right now in the context of everything else going on if the rooster gets potty-trained right now, or if his hair grows as long as the girls? Do I really need to force him to sit when he watches Sesame Street if he really wants to stand? Does it make any difference to the big picture if he insists on pushing all the buttons on the elevator? Or does it matter that we all get a little respite now and then from the struggles? Shouldn't I prioritize, and let go of the small stuff?

I'm planning right now to spend more of my stuck-in-traffic time looking at the kids in the rearview mirror and less time giving myself wrinkles unnecessarily.

5 comments:

Joeymom said...

I keep nail clippers, and constantly fuss at my nails in traffic. Trim, clean, file, peel callouses, clip hangnails, cuticle pushing. Bleah.

Anonymous said...

Yes, of course you should prioritize. And when it comes to the Rooster, chose your battles wisely. Standing, sitting, who cares? Yes, the Rooster has issues, but he's also three. Hang in there, sweetie...I'm sending you a big hug today.

Christine said...

Wow! I'm just impressed that you came to this realization so early! I think I revisit the whole issue about once every two weeks! But when I remember to relax a bit and let some less important stuff go -- I'm richly rewarded!

redheadmomma said...

sorry, have been away...

was just plucking the white hairs out of my red head on Friday in the mirror in my car! I was SHOCKED to see that there were so many!

And I felt a great sense of relief, actually, that things were going okay enough in life that I momentarily became distressed over something as trivial as gray hairs. It made me feel normal. :)

Niksmom said...

Just catching up on some back-blog (he he he, get it?)...sending hugs and good thoughts your way. I don't have much to add that others haven't said...well, except that I spend tons of time looking in the rearview mirror and singing to Nik. I get tired of it but sometimes his smiling response makes it worthwhile. What makes Rooster smile in the car that you can do?