I am a designer, illustrator, artist and mom to three very lovely girls. I also happen to have a pretty cool home studio. I am very fortunate in many ways. However, working from home sometimes comes with its challenges.
On one particular day, as I was scrambling to get my parcels ready for my UPS man, I had set my kids up with colored pencils and paper downstairs to keep them occupied. As it turned out, many of the pencils were quite blunt and badly needed sharpening. I started taking the pencils and sharpening them manually and soon realized that at this rate, I would be here all day. Plus, I still needed to gather up my packages for the UPS pick-up. I decided I would take the box upstairs to the electronic pencil sharpener. I don’t think I could have been gone more than 15 minutes.
Well, you ask, “what could possibly happen in 15 minutes?” Those of you with children can probably answer this question very quickly. It turns out that mommy was taking a bit too long to sharpen those pencils. My twins decided to take matters into their own hands and look into to our child proof/locked kitchen drawer that contains the pencils, markers and YES, scissors. I might also mention that the so called “child proof” only works on adults. Children seem to have a great knack for getting into things they are not supposed to and easily dismantling just about anything.
As I am walking back downstairs I hear some giggling and see some tufts of hair on the floor. I drop the box of pencils, run down the stairs almost killing myself in the process. Low and behold, hair is EVERYWHERE!!! I mean it is in the hall, bathroom floor, sink and shower. It was as if Edward Scissor hands went to town in our home. I start screaming and the kids look terrified. I see the girls standing on the stool, looking into the bathroom mirror, one with scissors in hand and the other with a crew cut!! I am frantic! What on earth happened here? Obviously, the scissors looked more appealing then the pencils they had been trying to get out of the drawer. This is also the week before their birthday party!! AUGH!!!!
I hear the doorbell ring. I am an uncontrollable, sobbing, hysterical mess. It has to be my UPS man (who also happens to resemble Dean Martin/George Clooney in a way) I swing open the door, shaking and trying as best I can to take the packages to him. Looking back on it, I have to laugh. I don’t think he knew what to do. He asked if he should call 911. I think he almost felt bad leaving me like that. He most likely thought I needed a sedative. I don’t know, I guess it was the complete shock of it. Just an hour ago, my daughter had beautiful long hair put up in pig tails. Now, she had bald patches cut into her little crew cut.
I call my neighbor, my rock, my second mom, as I am in almost no shape to drive. We need to go to the salon/barber shop. My daughter has bald patches in her hair!! She sits in the salon chair and I hope they can fix it into some type of cute pixie cut. I ask her what she thinks of her freshly shorn hair and she replies “I look beautiful”. Yes, you do… She will always look beautiful, no matter what. I feel a bit embarassed now as I panicked more than anyone. Afterall, it is only hair. It can grow back. Plus, she actually looks quite cute with her NEW short hairstyle.
Sweet little Pixie Cut
Working from home is fun and satisfying, and as many working moms can attest, at times a bit “challenging”. Just don’t let me tell you the story of when we actually did need to call 911 because my kids thought it would be fun to stick their heads through the stair railing. Yes, the officer needed to break my stairs in order to get her head unstuck. Never, ever a dull moment. So let me add, working from home is s always fun, satisfying, and EVENTFUL.
the culprit