Cosmetics and cameras

Santa brought Gracie and Lauren make-up cases containing lots and lots of make-up.   Additionally, they also received new dolls for Christmas, as their gift from mommy and daddy.  A couple of days after Christmas, Gracie decided that she would apply some make-up to her new doll.  In a rare move, we had purchased dolls that are a little pricier than what we would normally buy.  Regardless, we would not want any doll to be permanently marked with make-up so I nicely explained why applying make-up to a surprisingly porous doll was a bad idea. 

Argument 1: 

While it may seem temporary, the make-up cannot completely be removed from the doll.  At best, smears of make-up will remain. 

We wouldn't want to ruin her, would we?

Argument 2: 

A baby's skin is very sensitive.  We had given the strong admonition that absolutely no make-up could be applied to William George.  This time period was during the peak of his allergic outbreak, and therefore, we had to strongly caution against applying anything to his skin. 

We wouldn't the baby to have a skin reaction, would we?

Argument 3: 

Technically, argument 3 was a counter-point to Gracie's argument that she wanted her doll to be made up like her.  My counter-point was that babies do not wear make-up, and therefore, her doll should not and could not look like her since her doll is a baby, whereas she is a "BIG" girl. 

Your baby will wear make up when she is a big girl, like you. 

Finally, the debate reached a fevered pitch, and I simply banned the make-up for the rest of the day.  I had made several attempts to nicely reason with her, but, in the end, the rule has to be that we do not vandalize our dolls.  So... no make-up for the rest of the day.  Gracie huffed off proclaiming that "this is the worst thing that's ever happened to me!!!" 

At the time, her response seemed incredibly disproportionate. 

In an abrupt shift of topic, I was tempted to yell that into the phone at the camera associate in response to being told that my camera will be delayed another 7-10 days.  I left my camera for repairs on 11-23-11 and was told that the approximate turn-around time would be 4-6 weeks.  I assumed the repairs would realistically take four weeks and that they were managing expectations by providing the extra two weeks of time as a cushion.  Factoring in the holidays, I assumed the camera would be back in my hands in exactly six weeks.  Eight weeks later, I am still awaiting the return.  Maybe I am not exactly at worst-thing-ever territory, but I am increasingly impatient.