When I returned from Hollywood, I decided to wash everything. Several of my friends had told me horror stories about bedbugs as post-travel bedfellows, so I took precautions by doing laundry immediately and leaving my suitcase to harden and crack in our -18 C garage.
This evening, when I finally unloaded the dryer, I discovered Thing 1 and Thing 2. I believe I screamed. Yes, my 4” cuties had had a traumatic makeover. Gone was their shock of out-of-control hair.
Now, they either look like they’ve had a bad 80s perm (I’ve been there), or like they’re wearing a blue shower cap from a 2-star hotel (I’ve been there too).
Once the initial shock wore off and I showed my husband, I started to laugh so hard I may have cracked a rib.
Here is the before picture (note the carefree hair):
Here is the after picture (note the new hair style):
My grief over these two inanimate objects is cycling from “giddy hilarity” to “guilt and despair” faster than Elizabeth Kubler-Ross can say denial.
I’m thinking I should’ve risked the bed bugs.
Oh no! Honestly, sometimes I wait for months before washing a new item for that exact reason. Oh my 🙁
THAT SAID, my DEEP AND PERVASIVE FEAR OF BEDBUGS (yes all capped), leads me to conclude that YOU DID THE RIGHT THING! (to your wee things)
Sorry 🙁
Thanks for the sympathy…yes, bedbugs seem to be the new cockroaches, or the new lice.
You are my favorite lady in all of Canada.
I suppose I could just leave it there, but I’ll say thanks for the laugh. I was cracking up before I even could make it to the 2nd pic. And yes, I appreciate the irony of ironic mom inadvertently leaving her lovelies (is that how you say that?) in a washing machine. Ah, lovely metaphor. But shouldn’t the stuffed version of Thing 1 & 2 change and grow to parallel the real ones? I say keep these and get a new set. Options.
Thanks. I’m laughing too, sometimes barely, sometimes uproariously. The “thing” is: eBay has these dopey looking Thing 1 and Thing 2 dolls, which I don’t think are up to my standards. Sigh. Suffice it to say the shower-cap-versions will be around for a while, yet.
I’m with Clay, I think it’s the perfect excuse to upgrade.
Then again, they are ripe for a makeover…. Maybe it’s a bit like giving our children their first haircut.
Also, hilariously funny.
The funny thing is is that I swore I’d never cut my kids’ hair…because it would end like this.
Gasp! Oh dear. But tell me, are Thing 1 and Thing 2 posing for their pics on a WAFFLE IRON? That is what it looks like. And that is NOT what is meant by ironing one’s hair. However, at this point, perhaps it couldn’t hurt to give it a try….
ROFL at your waffle iron comment. Never thought of that angle! Here’s the waffle iron story: I had to look for a before picture that I could replicate. I found the waffle iron one. Voila…
Thanks for making me laugh!
Well it could be worse… My daughter(4yr) seemingly has decided to start her own beauty school… every barbie, stuffed animal, hobby horse and otherwise hairy toy has been Edward Scissorhand-ed, tho with much less skill or precision.
Yikes. Love your Scissorhand-ed image – perfect! My kids never got into the cutting hair thing, thankfully, likely because we can never find a pair of scissors around our house.
I don’t suppose you could find a Thing 1 + Thing 2 sized afro pick and restore them to their former glory?
I don’t think any comb is getting through their bright blue hair…sigh, again.
or you could give your kids bad 80’s perms and keep the metaphor going… The 80’s are coming back, I heard and I would know living in Montana, the fashion capital of the world
LOL…at fashion capital of the world. We’re just north of you, so I suspect we’re in the same boat. Yes, the bad perm would solve the trick, but given I make my daughter cry everyday when I inflict her with a comb, I think if she had a perm, you’d hear her from Montana.
They now look remarkably like Estelle Geddy circa Golden Girls years. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
But more importantly, why are Thing 1 or Thing 2 on the waffle iron?
Okay, now I can’t look at Thing 1 without thinking of Estelle Geddy. Too funny. Yes, the waffle iron…see my comment above to @Shari.
I was already laughing before the second picture, too; but I so feel your despair as well (Thank goodness for Kubler-Ross – ha!).
Still. Estelle Geddy circa Golden Girls? That has to take the edge of grief away just a little bit.
Also, imagine this: I’m returning with my beautiful family from a week-long family reunion with my in-laws in an……ummm…..rural town. I arrive home with my children and am too exhausted to wash anything until morning.
At which point I awaken to discover that everything that has made the trip (and I DO mean everything – suitcases, clothing, human beings) smells horrendously of mothballs. Gag-worthy scent. All over us.
We couldn’t smell it because we’d been living in it for 8 days.
So we’d paraded around JFK airport and LAX reeking. And smiling.
Ah, ignorance.
Wow…eau de mothballs. Maybe that’s one way to get an extra row of seats on board. I might have to try that, though something tells me I likely already have.
Wow. I did not expect to laugh so hard when I saw the after picture. Tears were streaming down my face. I like them. They now have even more character.
Yes, they’ve been laughter therapy for me over the past 24 hours. Get used to them…
Oh man…that’s worse than I thought. I really think you should look a getting them a nice blue weave.
A nice blue weave’s probably a good idea. My husband said, “Just put hats on them.”
Oh my…
I don’t know what else to say. But yes…I noticed the waffle iron too. I had to show it hubby and say, “seriously, is she going to iron them!?”
I do think you should upgrade…
Yes. DH is on the shopping quest, but all that we’ve found so far one ones with bland faces. Sigh again.
Oh dear…I hope when I get to be a “blue hair” that mine never looks like that! I have no suggestions to fix them, although if you get new ones, and decide to wash them again, I’d stick them in a lingerie bag first!
Wendy
Yes, when we have blue hair…maybe at that point we’ll need to be put in our own lingerie bags for washing.
LOL! I love them this way! My “Things 1 and 2” OFTEN look that way.
That’s true for me as well: matted hair = check; paint in hair = check.
Can’t.comment. Too.busy.giggling…
🙂
Just for the record – bed bugs = much, much, much worse than cockroaches or even lice! It was worth it, even considering the results to 1 & 2.
I can only imagine. I hope all I can ever do regarding bed bugs is to imagine…
poor you, bed bugs are horrible and crafty little creatures, apparently there is a bit of an epidemic
Yes, there has been a resurgence. Thankfully, we’re still bedbug free, matted hair or not!
Although I adore the Einstein-flavored do of Things 1 and 2, pre-laundry incident, those ‘fros they’re rocking now are tight!