Beauty Parlor Beauty Parlor

Hmm..the girls have been behind me to play beauty parlor, beauty parlor. Which essentially means make-up ! I finally obliged (though grudgingly) and it was a real blast for all of us.

Chellu made her own services card. She named her shop Ranika Beauty Parlor and agreed to write down all the services they offered. She did a really good job at it. I had to intervene and correct only a few times. The services offered were lipstick, cheek colors, eye shadow, shampoo, hair wash, bindi, nail polish and hair combing.So we sat down and the process started. Basically I was visiting their shop to get dressed to attend a wedding.

Dhriti joined us too and each of the girls did everything in turn. The excitement on their faces was worth a million dollars. And they were really focused when applying the make-up too. When everyone had gotten a chance they were very pleased with the final result!

Then it was time for hair wash & shampoo. I was kinda freaked out about it but finally gave in. I sat down on a stool and divided my hair into 3 sections for each of them to work on. A bucket was filled with water and each one was given 3 mugs. Wow they had a gala time. The girls were squealing with laughter. And supppppppppppppppppppppper excited. They did an amazing job and when the job was done , it was time for them to enjoy water-play amongst themselves.

Hmm..actually in retrospect what they did yesterday was nothing fancy from an adult's point of view. But for the kids it was huge. It was reverse parenting. Maybe some part of them wants to do everything to us that's done to them in the name of parenting or upbringing. This is where I'm reminded of the need for kids to do real life stuff than to be watered-down. Its one thing to wash a doll's hair but something HUGE to wash real Amma's , real hair! The look on their faces yesterday was such a kodak moment. I will never forget it.

And I also realized that all our kids really need is us. We would like to replace ourselves as much as possible with toys and other stuff but the real thing is US. If only we could get out of our comfort zones or out of our notions of what's possible/doable & not and become children again? The real excitement starts then..both for the children & for the adults.

After all this the girls themselves ( now joined by their friend Prisha) settled down to quiet play. Chellu & Prisha played with the laptop while Dhriti & Kunju doddled around ..this went on for almost 45 mins..No fighting, no arguments . Wonderful team-work. But I guess this was the after-effect of all the masti they had ..Their fun quotient was full!! And so was mine. What an amazing day!