spirit days...

we all remember them, right? backwards day, pajama day, crazy hair or sock day? i have the best memories from my elementary childhood of those fun spirit days. and i always got WAY into them, too. surprise, surprise.
today was "team day" or "sports day" at ruby's school. to be quite honest, we had forgotten about it until last night...right before bedtime. and of course, being the girly girl that she is...we didn't have a thing for her to wear. come to think of it, she has a pink "my first diamondbacks" tee, but it's probably a size 12 months. ha. so john, being the wonderful husband and dad that he is, offered to take her to walmart to pick out some sort of team paraphernalia that she could use for today. she came home all excited about her new sun devils t-shirt, and went to bed ashappy as a crazed sports' fanatic who's favorite team had just won the super bowl. plus, she had just lost another tooth, so she was pretty stoked about the tooth fairy bringing some loot.

she woke up happy and excited, not only about her money and note from the tooth fairy,

but also to show some school spirit by getting all dressed up in her new "sporty" outfit.

unfortunately, one look in the mirror, and it was instant tears.

she hated her t-shirt.

she hated that it was baggy and her jeans were tight.

she hated the long-sleeved white shirt that her dad had suggested she wear underneath.

she not only hated, but absolutely loathed the braids that i put in her hair.

she was completely hysterical about everything, but it was too late to do anything about it,

as the bell would be ringing in just minutes.

in an attempt to add something feminine to the ensemble,

i hurried and combined her two french braids into a ponytail at the bottom, and added a ribbon.

she cried even harder.

i hated having to push my kindergartner out the door in that kind of emotional state,

but we were completely out of time to do anything about it;

and to be honest...her dad and i were pretty irritated.

as she was getting into the car, still in hysterics, i yelled out the front door to her

"fine ruby, just have mrs. davis take it out and put it in a ponytail for you".

and then they drove out of sight.

i wasn't sure she had heard me, so i ran inside and sent her teacher a quick email

(unsure whether she'd even see it before the end of the day).

within just minutes i got her reply...

"We already handled it! She seems fine now and it's absolutely no big deal...happy to make her feel better, she's the best!"

so apparently ruby had heard me, and wasted absolutely no time at all in asking for mrs. davis' help in taking her hideous hairstyle out.

i couldn't help but laugh.

when she got home today, her hair was hanging down in her face...stringy and straight.

"well i see that mrs. davis helped you take your hair out"?

"yeah" she said, with a little smirk.

and then i asked "so did she say, ruby, you should leave it in...it looks so cute on you"?

"No! she just tore that thing out so fast...it's like she thought it was really ugly, too"!

haha.

oh ruby, you are hilarious...

and i'm still completely baffled as to why on crazy hair day you were chomping at the bit to get out the door to school, but today i literally had to throw you out?

i am completely perplexed by your sense of style.....and also a bit nervous for your teenage years.

so be honest, would you be happier about going out in public with the hairdo on the left...or the one on the right?
and now can you see why my five year old confuses the heck out of me?