Tangled

Last weekend my mom and I took all three girls to Hobby Lobby to look for some simple crafts they could work on during the holidays. The Preschooler was adamant about finding a chicken, {and by “chicken” she meant “turkey”}, that she could decorate at home.

I should know this by now, but three weeks before Thanksgiving is entirely too late to find Thanksgiving crafts because the whole store has been set for Christmas and looks like an indoor tree farm.

And, by the time I get ready to go look for Christmas decorations in early December, I feel certain they will have moved onto Valentine’s Day. This is how it works. So, it was only luck that led us to a lonely and misplaced bag of turkey parts that we snatched up to make our very own chicken-turkey craft for Thanksgiving.

While holiday shopping may not officially be in full-swing until Black Friday, this particular Hobby Lobby was mobbed on Saturday evening. So, we had to wait awhile in the checkout line. And, that’s where the trouble began. Like all smart retailers, they strategically place bins of toys and candy at the exit as a trap. So, naturally the girls were rummaging through these as we waited. And, they quickly found the bin with the toy fans that look like this:

One of the girls, after being persuaded or dared by the other two, stuck this fan directly into her hair while it was spinning. {So as not to embarrass anyone, I won’t say which child did this. But, I will say it was most surprisingly not the Preschooler}.

Of course, the foam fan blade got all tangled up in her hair all the way to her scalp line. And, this was no small tangle. She tried to get it out, I tried to get it out, my mom tried to get it… all to no avail. So, we explained to her that this was not a good decision and while it would be embarrassing, we would have to go through the line with the fan still attached the to her head and see if the clerk could help us.

But, when we finally made it to the clerk… he was sympathetic but unable to locate any scissors. He asked around, but no one at any of the checkout stations could find a pair.

Hello, this is Hobby Lobby. And, you can’t find any scissors???

So, I took half of our crew onto the car while my mom took the child with the fan still stuck to her head on a walk of shame all the way back to the fabric counter to see if someone there could cut it out. Fortunately, they were able to do so without sacrificing the minion fan or too much hair.

As we enter the Christmas shopping season, I’m hoping we all learned a few lessons from this debacle. If nothing else, I’m at least reminded of these things:

1) If possible, do all of your shopping online.

2) If #1 is not an option, hire a babysitter while you do your shopping.

3) If #1 and #2 are neither one possible, remind your children to never put a moving fan on or anywhere near their heads.

4) Additionally, remind your children that it is rarely wise to do anything your sibling(s) dare you to do.

5) Always carry a pair of scissors in your purse for such a time as this.

May peace and joy ~ or at least a good pair of scissors ~ be with you this shopping season.