Careless Non-Whispers

So yesterday, after I picked up the girls from school, we went to Target to pick up 3 or 4 things.  Shopping with a trio can be dicey, and we recently had an unfortunate incident at Books-A-Million. I felt confident, though.  For whatever reason, we are always on best behavior at Target, and that was technically true yesterday as well.  The girls, especially, were so good that they got to pick out a snack (Skittles), and they selected some apple juice at Starbucks when I picked up a hot chocolate. 

Everything was going swimmingly until we were heading toward the door, and that is when Lauren said, "Mommy, why does that man have long hair?!"

To appreciate what unfolded, it is important to know two things.  First, no one in my family can whisper, and two, once my children latch onto an idea or thought, they do not let it go. 

So, in nonstop fashion, Lauren began saying, "Why is his hair LONG?  He has CRAZY HAIR!  Why does a MAN have long hair? That's so SILLY!  HE'S SO SILLY!!!!" 

I should add that this gentleman, who, indeed, had neatly trimmed, shoulder length hair, was with his spouse/significant other/female and their tween-ish daughter.  The spouse/significant other/female started giggling, and they seemed generally amused -- thank goodness.

My response to Lauren's comments (above), which were on a nonstop loop at this point, was to push the cart (the really big one with the seats for toddlers) as hard as I could through the doors.  This had the unintended consequence of spilling some of my hot chocolate onto Lauren's shoes, creating a momentary distraction (no injuries). 

I would have been home free.  As luck would have it, the long-haired gentleman and his family were parked where?  Yes, you guessed it, across from us.  So we traveled to our cars together, with my child critiquing his hairstyle choice every step of the way*.

*I finally managed to "shush" her, but her curious glances spoke volumes.