What Kind of Super Power is a Stare Anyway? LAME.
Within hours of closing on the new house, I stood with Alexis in the paint aisle, holding a shower curtain in one hand and some paint chips in the other. We had just acquired a sugary sweet Hello Kitty set for her bathroom and the mission was to match it all together.
I knew the kid was going to choose pink, but I still showed her a plethora of options. There was pale blue, white, gray, dark blue, light pink, dark pink, all sorts of choices. She studied the paint chips, studied the shower curtain, and then looked up at me and declared that she wanted the walls to be pink like Hello Kitty's hat.
And so it was. A pink bathroom. A bright pink bathroom.
For some reason, all of which probably have to do with the fact that I hate pink, it took until this past week for me to pop open that can of paint and get to work. The second I pulled the lid off, I gagged a little. As I stirred and stirred, I reminded myself that it would dry darker on the walls than it was in the can. That was certainly a good thing. I scooped a little onto a paint brush and slapped it onto the wall.
It looked like Care Bear blood.
I kept going, working my way around the room, drop of Care Bear blood after drop of Care Bear blood. When it was done, it truly was so pink that even Strawberry Shortcake, the Queen of Gross Pink Things, would vomit immediately upon entering the room.
It dried darker all right. Now it looks like there was some sort of Care Bear massacre. Instead of the Bears successfully using their magical Care Bear Stare to ward off evil, they got their asses kicked and now their blood has dried all over the walls.
A Care Bear (or two) died so Alexis could have this bathroom.
(Pictures do not do the horror justice. Trust me.)
That bathroom is always going to be Alexis' bathroom. No one else will ever use it. I know for a fact that some day she is going to come to me, stick out her bottom lip, open her eyes wide, and whiiiiiine that it's ugly and I'm so horrible and OMIGAH can we please paint it any other color but that pleasepleasepleaseplease?
I'll be ready with a response.
Alexis, it's perfect just the way it is.
She had very important Alvin and the Chipmunks viewing to finish so she had to rush off. Truly, she loooooves it, and I'm never going to let her forget it.
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If you haven't been keeping up with the BRESMA orphanage story, please go over to That's Church and see if there is any way you can help. Every email, tweet, and blog post does help. We need to get supplies to the kids and get them to the families who are waiting for them. You never know if the person reading your words will be the one who can make things happen. I'll be looking at you again when the kids are safe and it's time to start rebuilding that orphanage. :-)
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Reader Comments (28)
I love it when she breathes, "woww" and looks around in disbelief. SO PRECIOUS! I bet that made you feel like a million bucks! I can't wait until I get one of those out of my daughter :D
I love the "Wow... WOW!" In fact, I love all of what she says. You do what you need to do to please them, right? She's adorable, and she definitely seems to like it!
Aww, that brings back memories! I had a bathroom that EXACT shade of pink when I was in college. I loved it!
Of course, I was young, dumb and stupid then. And often intoxicated.
Now that I think about it . . . that may have been how it ended up pink in the first place . . .
I LOVE the color. I know that's wrong and will probably get me banned from your blog but its so CUTE.
I'm a girlie girl. I currently have barbie colored nails. They are bright pink and they make me happy! Alexis is precious.
Obviously, perfect contentment comes in small doses.
But the color could be worse... it could be purple.
I actually kinda like it. Especially with the shower curtain. I really like the shower curtain.
while i LOVE her appreciation of the paint color - she truly loves it, which is ridiculous - I admire your completion of that paint job. Which is of course, why I volunteered to help you this weekend. In the hopes of better paint colors or sewing. Either one. :-)
I'd help anyway and you know that. You just have to tell me when to show up on Sunday, lady!
that little breathy gaspy "wow" says it all.
Ummm...wow. I would sleep with one eye open tonight...those care bears are tougher than they look.
She has her own bathroom? And it is PINK?
Can I come and live with you and have my own bathroom in lime green pretty please?
It looks more red to me, if that makes you feel any better.
Is that shower curtain on backwards, or did you take the picture in a mirror...?
The color looks like a great match. Juliana loved that bathroom before now it is pink. Juliana has to share her bathroom with boys - no pink.
She's so cute! I can't wait till we move and I can have the kids have their own bathroom. Read:I get to pee alone.
Coming from someone who had a bright red wall in her bedroom growing up, I can say with 100% certainty that Alexis will forever remember what a cool Mom she has. That video is priceless!
@Kellie--If I could wrap a bathroom in a box and send it to you, I SO TOTALLY WOULD. We have too many bathrooms and I hate it. Hate, hate, hate it.
@3carnations--I took the pic in the mirror. It's a small bathroom and the door is in the very wrong spot, so there wasn't any other way to do it. Also, it's soooo not red. It's very, very pink.
@AndreAnna--Heh. You're funny. We have a kajillion bathrooms and I *still* don't get to pee alone. Somehow she ALWAYS finds me. ALWAYS.
I :heart: that bathroom!!!
I don't know what you're talking about. That pink bathroom is FREAKIN' AWESOME!! If I could convince my BF I would SO paint our bathroom pink. I had to settle for chocolate though.
Holy CRAP you have the best blackmail material EVER!
I've tried using the Care Bear Stare before and it didn't work. It IS lame.
And that reaction makes it all worth it.
The things we do for our children. You might be stuck with a pink bathroom, but you have video proof that she thinks you're awesome. :) That's a win.
The first picture with the shower curtain - I LOVE that! It looks almost red.
Even the second pic - looks more watermelony - I like it for a kid's bathroom.
(We had a house once where the master bath - the one for two grown ass adults - looked like they had poured Pepto Bismol all over the walls. I thought that color would kill me.)
Care Bear blood made me laugh.
I love it! Of course, I do love pink. In fact, I think Alexis and I have the same taste in many things.
As for your title, I think you know just how powerful a stare can be. Don't tell me The Mom Stare isn't a super power!
That is fabulous!
You were very wise by video taping her response to the perfect bathroom, are you sure you didn't steal a super power or two from those poor innocent care bears before you slaughtered them?
I'm actually kinda liking that bath, since it's just for Alexis and all.
Are you sure it isn't Strawberry Shortcakes blood? It is so Berry pink! LOL. I'm lucky my girls never wanted a pink bathroom. My youngest would if she didn't share a bathroom, but my oldest likes blue so there was no painting anything pink.
I love the video and her surprise, and then "It's just perfect!"
LOL - "Care Bear blood" :-D
But see? She said it, it's just perfect!! You're a supermom. And she has her own bathroom, where Barbie, Hello Kitty and several Disney Princesses would probably feel right at home ;-)
Aww she's adorable. That reaction was probably worth the yucky pink paint....maybe.