"Actually Archer? Your hair is brown. Like Mommy's!"
"Oh. Yes. My hair is brown. And your hair is brown and Daddy's hair is... Um."
"Daddy doesn't have hair."
"Where'd it go?"
"That's a great question. I'm not sure. Do you have any idea?"
Archer thought for a moment, "Um... Um... Um... Daddy's hair... Um..."
About a minute later Archer called for me from the living room.
"Mommy? Daddy's hair went up in the sky. High, high in the sky. Waaaaaaaay up high, right? Right, Mommy?"
..............................
I realized immediately why Archer had come to this conclusion. Archer's sole experience with loss had to do with a purple Trader Joe's balloon he accidentally let go in the parking lot several months ago. It was such a tragic moment even I was in tears. Mainly because I was hormonal but also because of the profundity of watching my child lose something I could not save. Find. Catch.
"Mommy! My balloon! Help! No! Get my balloon MOMMY!"
But I couldn't. There was nothing I could do but stand by my son and watch the balloon float away.
Later, in the car, I explained to Archer that the balloon flew away because it was late to its super awesome balloon birthday party to have some fun and eat chocolate cake! To which Archer wiped the alligator tears from his eyes and asked:
"Chocolate cake with candles?"
This, I thought to myself will be a handy metaphor when the time comes to explain death. And although I was not aware of it at the time, hair loss.
...................................
"Yes, Archer. Daddy's hair went up high in the sky. High, high in the sky."
"For birthday party and chocolate cake with candles, right?"
"Exactly."
GGC
And in other news: King Archer and the Nights of the (not so) Sound Fable aka the miracle of Archer sleeping through Fable's late night wake-up-crying-sessions. Radical.
Also? OMG. This is fucking HIL-AIR-EEEE-US. Ahahahahaha. Oh, man.
16 comments:
I love it! Daddy's hair up in the sky enjoying chocolate cake. Makes hair loss sound so enjoyable.
Ever since I was a child even, I've felt bad for the little things, like someone dropping their ice cream or a balloon floating away. So I can totally relate to you on feeling sad about that balloon.
But what an awesome way to explain it! You're so creative. High up in the sky eating chocolate cake... I must use that explanation sometime. The thought of hair having a party in the sky just made me smile. You make my day with every post. Thank you!
I know, I totally love this. I have a mental image of a small hamster-looking clump of hair munching on chocolate cake.
Also, I can't believe the sentences Archer is saying now! It's still a shock to hear that he is communicating so effectively. "Oh. Yes. My hair is brown. And your hair is brown and Daddy's hair is... Um." ha. amazing.
Thanks for the laugh.
Lindsay
That made me teary.
And then the ads made me laugh until I cried.
Have you seen this book?
http://www.amazon.com/Purple-Balloon-Chris-Raschka/dp/0375841466
Wow, Rachel. I've never heard of the book but WOW. Just wow...
All 3 of my boyz think that their Poppa's hair "got melted".
There's this awesome kids book called "Where Do Balloons Go," and my kids love it. It's by Jamie Lee Curtis (I know, eyeroll) but the pictures are awesome and that party you told Archer about is beautifully illustrated in it.
He's gonna feel so betrayed and foolish when he learns the truth.
FORWARD TO THE YEAR 2023: (Archer, now an adult, discovers to his horror that he is losing his hair. His SO attempts to cheer him up by suggesting various treatments to alleviate the problem.)
Archer: No! That's not gonna work. My hair went up in the sky! My mother said!
Chocolate Cake? Yep, you were definitely hormonal!
I love the way you made him feel better though.
Awesome!
My husband is also bold - and the girls always make fun of him!
Great picture!
We also just had a balloon losing trauma a couple of weeks ago in a Best Buy parking lot. Ours was red... I told James (who is 3 days older than Archer) that it went on a great adventure, visiting wonderful places (like his fave cousin Patrick) and it will come back to him one day (eventually he'll get another red helium balloon) to tell him stories from the trip.
My hubby is bald too but James hasn't really asked about where the hair went... then again he's seen his Dad shave off the little bit he has left so maybe that's why... he watched the remnants wash down the drain.
When he was 3, my oldest explained it this way-
"Daddy has hair.....his head just sticks out of it..."
Priceless.
OK, i am a total blog stalker, but i had to come out to say, that I too had an tear jerking experience when my sons balloon snuck out of the car and drifted away. he was so sad, and for some reason watching that balloon drift farther and farther and knowing I couldn't EVER get it back for him, killed me just a little bit in that moment. It STILL makes me sad. I am glad I am not the only one that has had a moment like that.
Oh man, that is so adorable!
I lost a balloon when I was little and I still remember how tramatized I was. But mainly because attached to the balloon was my brand-new velcro watch that I loooooved.
Post a Comment