Pampering

This afternoon my children treated me to a makeover. For the better part of two hours, I sat in a fluorescent green chair, the seat of which comes to about half calf on me. Katie began the process with some brushes and a colorful palette of various creams and powders with which she proceeded to cover my face. Though only five years of age, my Katie is serious about outward beauty and generally all things prissy, so she took on this particular job with great earnest. When something didn't look quite right to her, she (not always gently) used a washcloth to erase the unwanted markings and then began again. Her intense gaze broke only when she approved of her work, in which case she grinned and bounced a little.

As Katie worked on my face, Caleb rubbed my back and shoulders, which was divine. When he got bored with that, he retrieved some stampers and ink pads. After I made my selections, he branded my left forearm with a brown horse jumping over a black fence. Then it was time for the actual face paint, which would give a more theatrical look to the now dark pink, green, and blue hues that covered my entire face. With Katie on my right side and Caleb on my left, my cheeks became their canvases. Soon large butterflies began fluttering on one half of my face, while a dark Ninja prepared to kick anyone who got in his way on the other half. Then, believing that face paint shouldn't be restricted to the face, Caleb and Katie took to painting my hands and wrists, which resulted in more butterflies and fighting Ninjas.

Next it was time to style my hair and get my nails done. Callie now joined in with her spray bottle and comb and tried to convince me to start parting my hair on the other side while simultaneously scolding me for using so much product. She also told me that dark hair grows faster than light hair. Meanwhile, Katie worked on painting my stubby fingernails--alternating between mauve, red, and pink paint. I thought it was kind-of pretty, though I couldn't get a complete look at it since my hair now covered the entire left side of my face. The final touch was made by Callie, who painted my toenails with a shiny purple base and then added bright red polka dots on top. Very pretty.

Even though I was afraid that someone might unexpectedly come to our door and find me in this rather colorful condition (Did I mention that they topped off the artwork on my face with bright blue and yellow dots?), I completely enjoyed the couple of hours of being pampered by my kids. It didn't really matter to me how it all looked (again, unless a visitor showed up); I just delighted in having my children so close to me and took pleasure in their love and creativity.

And then I washed my face.