A Lesson Learned

Today started out uncharacteristically well, which should have served as a major warning for the terror to come. Both of my daughters were in pleasant moods, neither one of them excessively crying for no apparent reason other than to stress me out. They didn't fight or scream, and they both went down for their naps without much protest. So, suffice to say, I really should have seen this one coming. I mean, seriously.. the day was just too perfect.

The crime scene: my bedroom.
The culprit: one two year old girl.
The weapon: black nail polish.
The victims: Bedsheets, pillow case, t-shirt, skin, and hair.

There I was, taking Allison to her crib for her afternoon nap. The house was peacefully quiet, and I assumed Aubrey was playing on my bed with a book or stuffed animal like usual. You know what they say about assuming? It makes an ass out of you and me. Or, you know, just me in this case.

When I got close to our bedroom doors, the distinct smell of nail polish hit me like a tidal wave. My immediate reaction? Oh shit. I quickly put Allison in her crib and rushed to my bedroom, where I found Aubrey giggling and grinning, "Hi mama! I paint my nails!" And, in her defense, she did paint her nails. And her fingers, hands, toes, ear, hair, shirt, my bed sheet, and a pillow. But like I said, she did paint her nails.

Although I wasn't thrilled to spend my next 20 minutes cleaning up after her little adventure into the life of a nail technician, I was surprised at how much I wasn't mad at her. Aubrey just wanted to paint her nails like I usually do for her. The idea of making someone else do your nails as a form of pampering is apparently still lost on her toddler mind. Still, she was so proud of her accomplishment that I couldn't bring myself to do much more than scold her for stealing the nail polish and painting unsupervised.


Then again, this could have all been avoided if I hadn't forgotten one of the most important rules of parenting: Never let your guard down. I was foolish to believe any day in my life with little children could go off without a problem. I'll just have to start hiding my polishes on higher shelves, and tell her that she's a little young to be painting her nails black.