Friday, January 29, 2010

Beauty "Defined" by the Young Negotiator



A girl loves to be pampered, but often a pricetag comes with it. Despite my hope that my seven-year-old son, Joel, would agree to just playing with my hair for ten minutes in return for all I do for him, I knew negotiations were about to ensue. The child is a born businessman.

"Hey, Joel, would you like to style my hair?"
"For money?" he asked, bright-eyed.
"No, for pleasure," I said.
"For YOUR pleasure, you mean."
"Yes."
"How about for 20 cents?" he chimed.
"How about for nothing, nothing but love?"
"How about for 2 cents?" he persisted.
"Well...is your 20-cent hairstyle any different from your 2-cent one?"
"No," he admitted. "It just lasts longer."

I caved and signed up for the 20-center.

------
A few minutes later, as he is brushing hair back behind my ears, smoothing it down
with his soft, nimble fingers:
"I'm making it look defined," he said.
"You're making me look divine?" (I pretended to misunderstand.)
"No, I said 'defined.' Simple yet elegant."

Where does he get this stuff?

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