Halloween Already?

Cleopatra's been mulling over this year's Halloween costume since the day after Halloween last year; she and Robey also usually begin planning their birthday parties the day after their birthdays. A few months ago she decided to be Lola from Hannah Montana ("Lola" is the alter ego of Miley's best friend Lilly, who dresses in disguise whenever Miley's disguised as Hannah). Normally Lilly's a blonde tomboy, but in full Lola regalia she wears funky mismatched clothes and a wig in purple, orange, green or red. Lilly's played by Emily Osment, the younger sister of Haley Joel Osment, the kid who sees dead people; wearing a wig she looks like her brother if he were, you know ... wearing a wig.

At first Cleo declared she was going to have her hair cut short and color it. This was a baaaad idea. Not because I like her in long hair since, frankly, Cleo won't let me fix her hair and when she does it herself it looks like she brushed it with an egg beater. No, this was a bad idea because, as much as I love seeing her pixie face peeking out from a pixie haircut, I had a sixth sense (sorry -- had to throw that in) that the moment the first handful of hair hit the floor she'd melt down and it would be ALL MY FAULT for, I don't know, letting her have her hair cut, which somehow would turn into making her have her hair cut. Consequently I pretended not to understand English when the subject came up.

Well, with Hannah Montana tickets ready and waiting Cleo became more determined to dress as Lola, so today I browsed Google and came upon a lime green wig on Amazon:
Actually, I came upon quite a number of similar wigs in a variety of colors, which I conscientiously showed to Cleo and here's the point to this whole story: my daughter, who always knows what she wants, and wants what she wants, and gets what she wants, insisted on RESEARCHING the exact color and style of wigs Lola wears in different Hannah Montana episodes, and debating the relative merits of each option. So I visited Google again and came upon a YouTube video featuring Lola in various states of wigness. After a good amount of debate Cleo fixed on the lime green, with a request that I save the video for when it's time to research the outfit.

Now I remember one Halloween when I dressed as a leopard in a yellow shirt and yellow tights with brown paper circles taped all over me; admittedly I looked goofy, but I don't think I debated the subtleties or symbolism of my costume choice. Is it really necessary to put almost as much thought into a Halloween costume as some women put into the selection of wedding gowns? Just asking.

Visit my web site, FeeFiFoto.com, for personalized photo gifts. We will put your photos on almost anything. Personalized photo calendars, mugs, handbags, jewelry, ornaments and porcelain plates make great gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, birthday, anniversary, new baby and graduates.

No Sign of Hannah Montana, But Still Trying

I'm still on the prowl for tickets to this sold out show. Nothing's turned up yet, although I did receive a bcc of the following email my father sent to someone who handles his banking:

Dear Person-at-the-Bank:

Something tells me that you and the bank could win the undying gratitude of a young client with 2 tickets to see the Hannah Montana show... Price is not the issue, but availability is. If you have any access to tickets that are already sold out or you know where they could be acquired, [Cleopatra] would love you forever.

Who knows -- once in a while it works for the baseball playoffs. Of course, the playoffs come in bunches and Hannah Montana comes only once.

I feel especially guilty because, silly me, I promised Cleo we'd get great seats and it turns out we couldn't get any seats at all. She's been magnanimous but I feel terrible. Chances are some of her friends managed to snag tickets and when she returns to school and hears who's going she'll be crushed. And we know how those seven year old girls are -- they won't be able to keep their mouths shut.

Curse those scalpers!!

POSTSCRIPT: Thank goodness for grandparents! They achieved success within one day, for which I'm deeply grateful. My kids were extremely savvy in their choice of grandparents, and I spend a good amount of time reminding them that not everyone is as fortunate as they are.

Visit my web site, FeeFiFoto.com, for personalized photo gifts. We will put your photos on almost anything. Personalized photo calendars, mugs, handbags, jewelry, ornaments and porcelain plates make great gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, birthday, anniversary, new baby and graduates.

These Days It Seems We Never Stay Home

The American Idol concert was much more enjoyable than I anticipated. Those guys and girls are GOOD -- I couldn't sing that well even in my imagination.

My kids and I are in San Diego for a week. Robespierre is attending sleepover Sea World camp with a couple of friends.

That's right -- sleepover camp at Sea World.

They have dorms with bunk beds. They get to go backstage and see how the animals are cared for. They get to dress in wet suits and slosh around in the bat ray pools. They get to go on a boogie boarding field trip at the beach. If camp had been like that when I was a kid I probably would have enjoyed it.

Not really.

Meanwhile, Cleopatra is at camp in the mornings and we pal around the rest of the time with our friends and each other. The first afternoon we had a girlie day -- lunch at Neiman Marcus, followed by a pedicure for her and a manicure for me, a chocolate freeze from Godiva, and a Hannah Montana shirt from Macy's (for her, not me). We've been to the beach twice, and last night we had fondue. The weather is way better than where we live; right now it's brain damage weather at home -- about 102 degrees and 98% humidity. Good grief!

Visit my web site, FeeFiFoto.com, for personalized photo gifts. We will put your photos on almost anything. Put your favorite pictures on personalized photo mugs, personalized photo Christmas ornaments, personalized photo calendars, personalized photo handbags, personalized photo puzzles, personalized photo playing cards and personalized photo jewelry. Check out our new promotion: order up to four personalized photo calendars and we'll ship them for the cost of one.

I'm Hyperventilating Because...

Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana, is coming to town!

For all the uninitiated, ie parents of toddlers, or parents of boys, or, well, parents of anything other than seven-year-old girls, Miley Cyrus (Billy Ray Cyrus's 14-year-old daughter -- remember Billy Ray? he of the Achy Breaky Heart?), plays Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel. Hannah Montana is a "Teen Pop Sensation," who's really klutzy teenager "Miley Stewart" in disguise, as she's determined to maintain her friendships and typical, average Malibu-beach-house lifestyle. By day she attends middle school, battles the mean girls, salivates over the local teen movie star, and fights with her older brother.

But by night -- she dons an elaborate disguise consisting of a blond wig and, well, that's it actually, to become:

Hannah Montana
Teen Pop Sensation

Now, as I may have mentioned, I am the parent of a seven-year-old girl, who will become possessed and ballistic when she learns that Hannah Montana is coming here in the fall. Therefore, in self defense, and also because I think Miley Cyrus is adorable and really can sing (acting, not so much), I will come very close to selling my soul for good seats to this concert. This, in turn, will ensure my elevation to Best Mom in the World status, at least until the glow from the concert has worn off, which by my calculations should happen approximately one week post-concert.

I'll take what I can get. Besides, it's better than a poke in the eye, or Disney Princesses on Ice.

Visit my web site, FeeFiFoto.com, for personalized photo gifts. We will put your photos on almost anything. Put your favorite pictures on personalized photo mugs, personalized photo Christmas ornaments, personalized photo calendars, personalized photo handbags, personalized photo puzzles, personalized photo playing cards and personalized photo jewelry. Check out our new promotion: order up to four personalized photo calendars and we'll ship them for the cost of one.

My daughter is such a girl

My daughter, Cleopatra-Queen-of-the-Nile, is seven and in first grade. We just finished redecorating her room, and at just the right time. Both Cleo and her brother, Robespierre, were world-renowned nose-bleeders, and since he'd used the room before she moved into it, the carpet looked like we'd committed a murder there. In addition, the carpet bore scars from two elderly dogs who never quite saw the logic in housebreaking. On the other hand, I was able to hold out long enough to pass by her "everything has has HAS to be pink" stage, and decorate the room in purple and green. Now that she's moved back in and arranged all the Madame Alexander and American Girl dolls on a long shelf above her bed, she spends much of her time dancing around the room and belting Hannah Montana songs into a hairbrush. Her cousin gave her one of those tiny pink stuffed dogs you get for making a purchase at Victoria's Secret, and last night she took quite a long time arranging the dog in various positions on top of pillows and under blankets so she could sleep with it and make sure not to injure it by rolling over on it in the middle of the night. Have I mentioned this is a stuffed animal?

So I want to know: where does all this girliness come from? It's not as if I was a tomboy (I'd have had to be at least passably athletic to qualify) but I distinctly recall that my main activity with dolls as a child was piercing Barbie's ears by driving straight pins through her head. I also recall that one of my favorite pastimes was pretending to be Superman. And as an adult, I have just enough traces of testosterone in me to watch football and baseball with a modicum of interest, and never to ask for driving directions; I figure if I drive in concentric circles long enough I'm bound to get there eventually.

And yet, here she is, Miss Girly Girl, practicing cheerleading moves on the basketball court, completely oblivious to the game swirling around her. She draws fairies and mermaids, and lots of pink and red hearts. And that girly giggle puts me away every time. I'm trying to store all these memories in my data banks so I can revisit them when she hits adolescence and flames shoot out of her head.