7/12/2007

manic manicure


Today I took Anna, Maya and Natalie with me to get my nails done. We waited until Natalie fell asleep in her infant seat and then we seized the moment. I found a parking spot a mere eight blocks from the salon and lugged the sleeping Natalie in her car seat as I limped along, thanks to an unfortunate episode involving my big toe and the stone step into our kitchen.

I was suffering between the toe and the cumbersome infant seat, but of course the five-year-olds had the greater angst. "This is such a long way," Anna said. "I can barely make it." A few times Anna halted conveniently in the middle of intersections to ruminate.

But we finally made it, and the neon lights of the salon were an oasis in the desert. Soon my feet would be lovely and soft again! To my great relief, Natalie slept peacefully during all procedures while Anna and Maya acted extraordinarily grown-up as their fingernails were painted in matching gold hues. Just before I left, Natalie woke, and I looked down and realized that my big toe had been smudged.

I asked Anna to hold Natalie for a few moments while I had the toe fixed. Natalie started to wriggle out of Anna's arms, and the woman who had painted my nails came over to help, because I didn't yet have the use of my fingers.

She held Natalie in her arms and said, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A girl," I said.

"She doesn't look like a girl," the woman said.

"Well she is in kind of a boyish outfit," I conceded.

The pacifier then slipped from Natalie's mouth to the floor. I asked Anna to drop it in the infant seat, because I still couldn't pick it up with my wet nails. But the woman said, "No! It must be washed." I said, "Oh yeah, Anna, Maya, will you wash this for me?" The girls were thrilled with the task and headed to the sink at the back of the salon.

And then the woman said, "You really should trim your baby's nails. They shouldn't be long like this. She could scratch herself."

I nodded. What an astute observation and handy bit of advice!

Then, with Natalie still in her arms she bounced her and sang this clever ditty (to be sung to the tune of "Nah-nah-a-boo-boo, stick-your-head-in-dog-do"), "I don't have any babies, but I know how to take care of babies."

But she stopped cold when she noticed my next crime against humanity. "Do you have a dog? She really has an awful lot of hair on her. She shouldn't be . . ."

I stood up. "This is an unpleasant experience for me. I don't think I'll ever be able to visit your salon again. You don't have any babies yet, but when you have them you can take care of them however you please, in the meantime, I'm not interested in your advice."

I swung Natalie onto my hip and told the girls it was time to go.

"Do you carry your baby like that?" the woman asked.

I jerked my head back at her, fire in my eyes. The ladies who were drying their nails looked up at us. Lucky for them, this was grander drama than they could have anticipated. Why go to the theater when you can get a manicure?

"Stop." I said, firmly and loudly. I looked the woman in the eye and pointed at her."I don't want to hear one more word from you." (Apparently I spend way too much time around five-year-olds and not quite enough in the company of adults).

"I was just asking," she said.

10 comments:

Ser said...

I'm so glad you fine-tuned this into a story--and a hilarious one at that. Your pacing is much better in this telling than in the breathless cell phone version I got to earlier today.

I hope you are feeling better about it. It really is funny.

What is the name of the place? Maybe I could take Henry in his ripped purple pants with his wild, curly hair, chocolate smudged on his face. He has been begging for a pedicure lately (really).

Anonymous said...

This is HILARIOUS -- so much so, I wasn't sure you were serious for much of it! Thx for the laughs, though I'm sure it didn't seem to funny at the time! ;)

When I move to Chicago, God willing, I'd like to be able to avoid this place!

Anonymous said...

How brave of you to venture out to get your nails done with the babes:)

I really, really dislike when strangers tell me how to raise Noah and Silas and i find myself doing this very same thing often. If they can tell me what they think then i am going to fire right back. Shame on them and good for you for sticking up for you and your family:)
Thank you for your comments on my blog:)
I will not be able to get copies of the modeling pics of the boys but look for them in the fall/winter One step ahead catalog:)
Hopeflly we can get together soon maybe with my bro and Nna before baby matusiak arrives:)
love in christ,
Juliana
www.positivechaos.wordpress.com

A M B E R said...

this is hilarious. how are your toes now?

Nostalgia said...

This is great! SOOOO funny.
But really, next time, let Natalie participate in the great pleasure of manicure. ;)

Dove Knits said...

Very unChristian words would have come out of my mouth! You handled it beautifully, and I'm sorry for the bad experience, but this makes for wonderful reading!

And, because, yeah, your baby is sooooo neglected. Which is why she's so chubby and happy and developing ahead of schedule!

Ryan Erickson said...

Great story, Jenny! And thanks for your encouragement. I truly enjoy writing my entries and I know I will cherish them many years down the road.

Professor Howdy said...

Sure liked your article in "Boundless" - Great job.

Keep up the good work!!!

eDOT said...

You sure are an interesting writer...

Unknown said...

Oh, Jenny, I just discovered your blog.
Yay!
This one is fabulous. You tell them! And what guts you have!
I am still laughing...