Flunking Hair

The Tongginator has what we affectionately call "the Asian swirl" on the back of her head. It's been three years, and I still don't quite know how to manage it. Everyday the little Piglet asks for pigtails and I try. Oh, how I try. But it never quite works out. I didn't realize how obvious it was until a woman at the supermarket, who flirted with the Tongginator, called attention to my total lack of skill.

WOMAN: (looking at the mismatched colors and patterns on my daughter's body) Did you dress yourself today?

TONGGINATOR: Yes! I love my pretty shirt. See, it has flowers on it. One, two, three flowers.

WOMAN: I see. Very pretty. And did Daddy do your hair today?

TONGGINATOR: No, Momma did.

WOMAN: (crickets chirping) Oh.

Below is a picture of the Tongginator on -- believe it or not -- one of her better hair days. She especially loves the "Topsy Turvies" shown below, which an eleven-year-old taught me, step-by-step. It took longer than the eleven-year-old anticipated, but she finally helped me memorize the procedure. To be fair to the woman-at-the-grocery-store, the Tongginator's hair looked MUCH worse on the day in question. The pigtails sat lopsided and they weren't Topsy-Turvies.