So that last post was a little weird, I’ll admit. But dreams have a way of skewing the mind, bending and twisting it into all sorts of odd shapes.
Okay, so that’s a lame excuse. My mind is skewed and not just because of some dream. But still, I do believe that dream made my brain get skewed-er.
The kids have brought all the daffodils into the house and plunked them on my kitchen table. (That is, all the daffodils that were left after the Baby Nickel mowed them down with the clippers one fine spring day.)
They decided that yellow daffodils get boring, so they stuck them in cups with food coloring water.
Some of the stems they split in half so they could get bi-colored flowers.
I had nothing to do with this project. Projects like this make me feel like my fur is getting rubbed in the wrong direction. Projects like this make me want to hiss and spit and give myself a vigorous shake (or clear the table with one mighty swipe of my paw, as the case may be).
But I don’t. My exquisite self-restraint makes me feel very big. (But then today I discovered the children dunking their carrot sticks in the beginning-to-be-putrid, colored water and I think I hissed a little.)
This morning when I was getting all heated up about something—dye-dipped carrots, perhaps?—my oldest daughter quipped, “I smell an angry mama.” That girl is the best quipper.
That same daughter is obsessed with horses. She spends large portions of her day astride the back of the sofa.
Is this love of horses true of all girls everywhere? I know that in Little Women the sisters (or at least Amy) spent much time riding on a saddled tree branch. I remember being slightly smitten with horses, but I think my daughter has far surpassed me.
My other daughter is obsessed about getting her ears pierced.
Do any of you have little girls with pierced ears? If so, I’d appreciate being enlightened on the pros and cons of bejeweling a seven-year-old’s ears.
But back to horses. Ree had a horse photography contest last week. I didn’t enter it, but the contest did inspire me to take some pictures of horses. I’ve decided that I’m going to try to follow her prompts—in other words, take pictures of whatever subject she throws out there—even if I don’t enter them. It provides a way for me to move outside of my normal photography habits. Hopefully, I’ll grow in the process.
I didn’t have to go very far to find a horse to photograph. A horse field butts right up against our property. Only problem was, the horse didn’t feel much like modeling for me. She (I think it’s a she) hung out on the other side of the field and engaged in boring horse-like behavior that centered around eating grass, flicking her tail, and eating more grass.
She did stop drop and roll once.
After awhile of nothing happening, I called my horse-loving daughter to my side, told her I needed that horse to come closer, and then sent her into the horse field to go fetch the horse…somehow.
She did it, my girl did.
The carrot helped.
See the fly on the horse’s nose (on the picture below)? Something tells me there’s a connection between our fly-infested house and this horse. (And our chickens and the neighbor’s steers, etc.)
But that’s okay. It’s all part of the ambiance that comes with country living.
This same time, years previous: my baby’s faces
10 Comments
Hello. My name is Meshan.
LOVE the picture of your daughter standing by the fence watching the horse, LOVE the carrot in the mouth picture. Your photography skills are progressing at a very rapid rate. I'm impressed.
You Can Call Me Jane
The whole earrings thing has me confused. I have pierced ears and like them, but I can't help but think that making my girls wait until they're older is smarter. Kind of like the whole tattoo issue- they may live to regret it. I know it's not just like a tattoo, but my second hole that has grown shut still shows a mark and I wish it didn't. Thankfully, my oldest girl (only 5) is currently saying that she wants to be like her Gram and never get her ears pierced. I'm going to make them wait. Think of all the things we say "no" to them about- and most of them have nothing to do with permanently altering their bodies. Just something to chew on:-).
Marie M.
Call me old-fashioned. Very old-fashioned. I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 20 years old. Yep. But it was a different time. No one in my high school had pierced ears. We're talking the 1950s. Fashions change but I still cringe seeing young girls with pierced ears and lip-stick and weird nail-polish — always dirty and chipped. Yuck. Oh well. Guess I've turned into an old fogey.
Cookie baker Lynn
I like your pictures very much. Especially the one of your daughter standing looking at the horse.
I made my girls wait till they were ten to get their ears pierced. Not for any particular reason, other than that's the age I was when I got mine pierced. In my book, the most important mile-marker for the young lady to pass is that she's able to take care of them herself. Mama doesn't need any extra chores.
dr perfection
Be a cool mom and get the ears pierced. It's a worldwide custom and earings are beautiful.
Mama Pea
I think you got some GREAT horse pictures! Especially like the one with the carrot in her mouth.
So what if your last post was a little weird? We still love you. Really.
the domestic fringe
Those are great horse pictures! I've never seen a horse roll before. Very cool.
Anonymous
I had a seven yr old who wanted her ears pierced, i ignored it…for a long time. I kept saying "when you are thirteen" just to put it off to the future. She turned ten, we shocked her by taking her to the ear piercing place and she was thrilled. It hurt, she was still thrilled. She didn't like the pain for the next few days but that subsided. She did a great job of cleaning them, for a while. When it came time to change them, her mother (me) just about passed out having to help change them (the reason she had to wait, was for me, mostly). This happened a few times, then she got the hang of changing them in front of a mirror, and much later, without a mirror. Didn't have a panic attack recently when she realized that she forgot to replace an earring she was changing out when going to bed. She popped one in and didn't sweat the "I went all night without an earring" panic she would have if told she had to do that! Overall, she loves the rite-of-passage the earrings were and she is adorable in earrings. Just one more thing to accessorize with. I was glad I waited till ten . . . thirteen would have been better for me!
L in Elkton
Margo
I love that photo of your 7 year old! We told our daughter she can get her ears pierced when she's "big" – which will probably be defined as 13 or maybe 16. Definitely no make up til 16.
I'm glad to know I'm not the only hissy (although I tend towards roaring) mother – there is sometimes a real lack of parental readiness around here for children projects. My husband is more tolerant. Thank goodness for two parents in this case.
jennifer
I have a seven year old who also was obsessed with having pierced ears. After a year of asking she got them pierced on her 7th birthday. We made it a girls day and went with my mom, sister and a couple of other female relatives. Then we went out for ice cream afterward. Pros and cons? There are probably more cons than pros…
cons:
-initially they hurt- that surprised my girl a bit
-keeping them clean
-daughter wants more (stuff) earrings
-helping put new earrings in / take old ones out when we are running out the door
Pros:
-Daughter LOVES them
-We made it into a fun mother & daughter thing when we got them pierced, which we don't do enough of
-?
Its really just another sign she's growing up and wanting to branch out/try new things, be her own person.
Good luck with that!