All I want for Christmas is...Hair Extensions??

Let me start by saying that Christmas with a 3 year old is F-U-N, FUN!!! The magic of the season has officially returned to this house and I will forever be grateful to my little R for that. I can only imagine how much fun it will be to watch her and little bro B anticipate the big day in years to come! Makes this mama smile just thinking about it!

This was the first year that R was able to come up with a list of her own for Santa....you know, the usual: a bike, skates, Lalaloopsie doll, pony.....all the usual suspects. And the jolly man in red was good to this family...very good. Most of the items on her list were checked off one by one on Christmas morning. Then she opened it....an unassuming silver package with a big white bow on it. It was from her cousin S....her role model in all things "little girl". Sure enough, inside that paper, was a Rapunzel Hair Care set. A pink and purple backpack filled with all things hair care related....pink hair ties, pink brushes, pink mirrors, pink hair gel, and.... wait for it.....hair extensions (blond....with pink clips of course).

Immediately, skates, bikes, dolls, and Santa were forgotten about and all she could focus on was getting these additional tresses fastened perfectly into her already too-pretty-for-a-three-year-old hair. To be honest, they creeped me out. Other people's hair grosses me out....my own hair grosses me out sometimes. Their not-quite-human-hair, not-quite-barbie-hair quality was unsettling to me, but in the spirit of Christmas, I fastened these beauties in her Christmas morning bed-head.

As luck would have it, they matched perfectly...I mean Brittany Spears would have been jealous of how good these things looked...heck, I was a little jealous of how good they looked. She spent the next 20 minutes admiring herself in the pink plastic mirror I  mentioned before. Oh vanity starts early doesn't it.....sigh.....

The real humor and dilemma starts now as the shear forgivability of Christmas Day is behind us and we are getting back to the normal routine. Those who know me, know how anti-Toddles and Tiaras I am...I struggle with whether or not we should paint her finger nails yet. Alas, she talks obsessively about her "hair extensions" and how she is so happy that Santa brought her what she asked for. Please note, she did not ask Santa for them and had they actually been on her list, Santa would have received the Cliff Notes version....no fake tresses.  I can only imagine the talk amongst the pre-school teachers when she tells them about her very favorite Christmas gift....

Note to self: Check R's backpack when she heads back to school next week. Remove any fake hair...

Lesson learned from this.....you can make sure your little love received everything on their list for Christmas, but inevitably, the very favorite gift will be one that they don't ask for, you would never buy them, and you secretly....very secretly, covet.

May you all enjoy these final days of 2012! Cheers!!