Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Fools Schmools

Remember this scene?

The full storyline, which includes Monica's return home after Chandler and Ross frantically attempt to put everything in the apartment back where it belongs - isn't available on YouTube. Boo.

Though I don't consider myself as extreme a neat freak and/or organizer as Monica, I admit to feeling anxious when people rearrange certain aspects of my life without my permission. I could go into the reasons why, but since I doubt you'd find them very interesting and they're not the point of today's post, I shall skip the background and move on to the story.

Hallie and I spent all of last Friday afternoon - April Fools' Day, mind you - dressed up and in full makeup for dance pictures. (Well, she was dressed up and in full makeup - I was dressed and sweating off what little makeup I had on.) While I don't generally enjoy the hullabaloo that goes along with dance picture day, this year I felt particularly excited because Hallie I knew the photographer would do a beautiful job of capturing her 24-hours-old gap-toothed grin. 

I had to pick Hallie up early from school to make the magic happen. After putting her hair in a bun and applying her make-up, we packed up all of our dance accouterments - three costumes and accompanying accessories, three pairs of shoes, hair supplies, make-up, and activities and snacks to pass the time in between sessions - and headed to the studio. We arrived on time, in good moods and ready to smile pretty, but before long, "Photo Friday" went south. I'll spare you the nitty gritty details, but poor pictures, nasty photographers, doubled prices, and tears (Hallie's, not mine) were involved. Needless to say, when Hallie and I finally returned home I was exhausted and kind of grumpy. 

After unloading the car, Hallie and I headed to her room so we could organize and hang up all of her costumes. But something wasn't quite right when I turned the corner into Hallie's closet. The clothes hung too long from the rods and the colors surrounding me seemed muted; after a few seconds I understood that I was looking my shirts and dresses rather than Hallie's. At first I thought Tom had accidentally carried a few of my fresh-from-the-laundry-room shirts into the wrong room, but when my eyes assessed the closet panoramically, I realized that ALL of my clothes and shoes were in Hallie's closet.

This of course meant that ALL of Hallie's clothes - and shoes - were in my closet. 

Tom and Will started laughing hysterically...until I turned around and they saw the look of terror on my face. "It's like you don't know me at all!" I exclaimed in a voice that had climbed, according to Hallie, two octaves higher than normal.

"We're sorry. We'll put it all back. We promise," they fumbled over each others' apologies. 

"Yes. Yes, you will," I responded as I took deep breaths and focused my anxious energy on methodically sorting dance costumes and accessories.

Tom and Will hurriedly carried armfuls of hanging clothes and laundry baskets full of shoes from my closet to Hallie and from Hallie's closet to mine. But then they started hanging clothes and shelving shoes in the wrong places, and I came close to loosing it again. (Your closet is organized, right? You have some semblance of order among your clothes and shoes, right? You put long dresses on the rod that allows them to hang without touching the floor, and you put "everyday" shoes in a more accessible spot than you put the shoes you wear only for weddings, right? Whew. I'm glad I'm not the only one.) My boys thought it somewhat unrealistic of me to expect and insist they put everything back exactly where it had been before. 

I thought it somewhat unrealistic to come home from a stressful afternoon outing and find all of my belongings in someone else's closet. 

To add insult to injury, Will had also switched the silverware around. That night I made myself a dessert, grabbed a small spoon, and climbed into bed so I could FINALLY relax and enjoy the treat I felt I deserved. As I started to eat, I realized that instead of a small spoon, I held in my hand a large fork. 

From here on out we don't celebrate April Fools' Day at my house. Either that or I need a really good idea to get my boys back next year...

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