Picking Your Battles

Polly and Eddie were in middle school age and driving me NUTS. Polly had discovered makeup and perfume and applied both with a liberal hand. Our bathroom looked like the Clinique counter at Dillard's. Dave and I would be enjoying a few minutes of peace reading the paper, listening to the news and Polly would breeze through the family room looking like "a working girl" and trailing a heavy scent that hung like a rain cloud long after she had departed the room. We had enough blue eye shadow in our house to make up the entire Rockette dance line for at least a year. Eddie was not into makeup or perfume to that degree (OK, we did go through a raccoon eye phase) but oh my goodness the mouth. Eddie HAD to have the last word or her head would explode. It didn't matter what the word was....it just had to be the last word spoken. Our family have always been readers but it was during this time that they veered away from what I considered apropriate and read nothing but Sweet Valley High books. My mother gave me some very good advise. So what if the books they are reading are "trashy". They are reading and will discover on their own that there are good books out there. The makeup also took care of itself. Thank goodness Polly finally decided she didn't want to look like a "lady of the evening" and now it's a rare morning when she has time to put on moisturizer let alone makeup. As for Eddie always having to have the last word....guess we will have to check with her husband Mike for the answer to that question.