Pink Toes

Have I ever mentioned how happy I am to have two adorable little girls?

Oh? I have, you say? We'll, let me just say it again: I feel so, so lucky to have had two girls. Two pretty, pretty princesses. Two wearers of pink, buyers of bows, and lovers of anything femenine.

On Monday night, I needed a pedicure. It had been too long . . . and Jim was home . . . so I needed to take advantage and sneek out for a little bit and have my toes taken care of. Once, there was a day when this escape was a ritual of mine. I even remember asking a friend once, "You mean, you paint your OWN toes?" . . . I was such a pedicure princess. Now, ha! I'm lucky if I go once a month . . . very, VERY lucky.

But back to Monday . . .

I had decided that Meg was big enough to tag along and enjoy the lovliness of a pedicure with her mommy. It would be a 'big girl' adventure, something Meg and Mommy would do without little sister. Jim thought I was crazy, but I thought it would be a fun treat.

During dinner that evening -- pre pedicure -- I let Meg know what to expect when getting your toes painted.

"You have to sit very, very still. You can't move around when they are painting your toe nails," I told my oldest daughter.

"Yeah," she replied.

"And when they are done you have to stay still for a while so that the paint can dry," I warned.

"O-tay," said Meg.

As best I could, I let her know what to expect. Then we put on our flip-flops and headed to the nail salon. (Meg's flip flops are a hoot. She can't walk in them -- so we never actually leave the house in them -- but going to the salon in flip flops is a must. So, she shuffled along side me, oh-so-proud to be wearing shoes that were "a match!" with mine.)

She seemed a little overwhelmed when we arrived. The Vietnamese women were speaking their native language, and I could tell that Meg had NO idea what was coming out of their mouths. But she picked her color and let one of the women carry her to a chair and roll up her pants to start painting those teeny, tiny toes of hers. (BTW -- I just had them painted, no actual pedicure for Meg. I could get a staff infection from one of those places, and I'd have myself to blame. But nobody is putting any tool near my kid with the potential that she could get sick from it!)

To say that Meg heeded my warnings about sitting still and being a good girl is a drastic understatement. The kid was so scared to move, it was comical. Once her PINK! color was selected and she was settled in her chair, she didn't move a muscle. When someone asked her a quiestion -- she moved only her eyes to see who was talking to her. I'm not exaggerating at all. I laughed so hard with the woman sitting next to me -- and we were across the room -- that Meg must have wondered what the commotion was about.

After her toes were PINK! and she was happy, the Vietnamese woman carried her over and sat her in a chair right next to mine. I had come prepared with the treat of all treats . . . a lolly pop. I handed it to Meg, and she was beside herself. Oh -- I'm no dummy -- that lolly was as much for me as it was for her. I knew if I gave her one, she'd sit quietly and eat it for at least 10 minutes . . . which was exactly what she did.

She was so patient while my toes were painted, then we patiently waited together for just a few minutes to let them dry. One quick picture of our toes all dolled up, and we were on our way back home. It was only about a 40 minute experience, but it's 40 minutes I'll never forget.

As I loaded her into the car, Meg said, "Mommy take Meg to the paint store!"

I laughed. "Maybe we should call this place the nail store, Monkey." I said. Paint store, nail store . . . who cares. The point was that Mommy and done something with Meg -- and only Meg -- and she seemed to enjoy it every bit as much as I did.

If you see Meg in the next week or so, please be sure to ask her about her Pink Toes. I think I might have to bust her white sandals out of their winter retirement for a few days so she can show them off to the world.