No Dragons Here

A funny little story from the grocery store this morning.

But first, a little background.

I can never seem to keep up with trimming my girls' fingernails. Every time I turn around it seems like their nails are long and jagged with dirt caked under them. For three days in a row I told them "Remind me when we get home to trim your nails". (Because we always seem to be out of the house when I notice them.) The problem is they don't want me to trim their nails.

Anna wants to maintain the status symbols of being more grown up than her little sisters. "I'm not a baby anymore, Mom", she tells me. To her, having longer nails is a symbol of being grown up.

Sarah just doesn't remember stuff like that unless it is a promise of something fun later. Nail trimming doesn't fall into that category for her. She forgets on the way to the bathroom from the kitchen what she intended to do once she got there and it is only a distance of a few feet. I can hardly blame her, that happens to me regularly too.

Emily simply doesn't want to have to sit still that long.

So, back to my story. When I finally got to Sarah's nails a couple of days ago she said "Mommy, why can't I leave my nails long?". To which I replied: "Because your nails are like daggers and are scratching things and other people". Which created a new discussion about what daggers are while I finished the much needed grooming as Emily looked on.

This morning, while waiting for the deli lady to finish my order, I noticed that I still hadn't trimmed Emily's nails yet. I said "Remind Mommy, when we get home, to trim your nails". Then she looked at me with an innocently puzzled look and said "But why Mommy? There aren't any dragons on them.