A conversation with Carver

Recently this was the conversation I had with Carver, My six year old son (who has told me I am the prettiest mom ever...just so you know):

Carver: Mom, will you wear your hair "down" tomorrow. PLEASE!

Me: I think I could do that. But hey, don't you still think I look pretty with my hair up?

Carver: Uhhh, not really.

Me: (putting on my most hurt face and using my most dramatic voice) What? You don't think I'm pretty with my hair up?

Carver: (feeling the pressure), Well...I mean you look KIND OF pretty with is up, but not really. You look REALLY REALLY pretty with it down.

Me: Okay, I can live with that. We can't have it all in life. Down it is!

Just for a little back ground on this... Carver began to be obsessed with my hair when he was about 4. This was actually one of our mild conversations about hair. Sometimes in the past he was almost in tears when I didn't have my hair down. Seriously. I know...it's weird, but kind of endearing...I think (except for the fact that I am too lazy to wear my hair down all the time). Anyway, when Carver was about 4, he all of a sudden started commenting on my hair. He would run into the bathroom when I was doing it and say, "Oh mom...your hair is BEAUTIFUL". He loved to play with it and ooze his 4 year old affection to my hair. Yes, even a 4 year old can do wonders for the self esteem. But then the down side was when I had my hair up. He would even come up to me and try to take out my pony tail holder. He would demand to know how many days I was going to wear my hair down that week, and seem quite emotional about it. But being as vain as I am...I just loved the days he would say the sweet stuff...and ignore the rest. When I came to get him on his first day of pre-school, he looked so sad. I finally got it out of him that he was upset that my hair was in a ponytail, and not down...and now his whole class saw me this way. Who knew that I would start embarrassing my kids at such a young age. My friend Sara told me that she once had him over to play and she asked Carver if he was excited to see me when he got home. He just said (and I quote here), "Na, she has her hair up". Kind of like..."why bother with her today". Anyway, it has been a funny thing for the past couple of years, and though he does not talk about it as much (or maybe he is just resigned to the fact that I am not going to blow dry it and flat iron it every day...too lazy for that), he still brings it up occasionally. So instead of focusing on the fact that many times I am a disappointment to my poor child, I focus on the fact that he thinks I AM THE PRETTIEST MOM EVER...sometimes...if I have my hair down. I'll take that.