Thanks for all of your reassurance on Harriet�s hair � I was glad to learn I�m not the only person with strong opinions on the subject. Because I apparently have nothing better to do, I searched Harriet the Spy via amazon.com for �hair� and found the only definitive description of Harriet�s hair was as �long, straight hair� � no mention whatsoever of its color. But the book does mention that her parents both have brown hair and brown eyes, which, laws of genetics being what they are, suggest that there�s a good chance Harriet�s hair was brown too. If, like, she were a real person. Moreover, at one point Harriet wonders what it would be like to have yellow hair like Janie, which suggests that she is not a blonde.

Research skills are a dangerous thing. And a mind is a terrible thing to waste. But those concerns didn�t stop me. There�s more!

Images of Harriet the Spy have been pretty consistently inaccurate, it would appear. The classic cover of the book shows her to have short dirty blonde hair. It is, however, pretty straight. You can see another picture of her in my profile. This hairstyle, along with her thick glasses, make her look a lot like Velma from Scooby Doo. This is the image I grew up with, but somehow I�ve always remembered her as a brunette. Perhaps because the pictures inside were black and white. Or perhaps because I identified with her so much that I wanted her to look like me.

In France, however, Harriet L�Espionne does indeed have long, dark, straight hair. No glasses, though. Thanks to rs536 for that reference.

And really, I am done now. You can all breathe a sigh of relief.

I spent the morning, following my penultimate water aerobics class, chaperoning AJ and his friend N. As always seems to happen when the two play together, they begin by fighting and whomever is on his home turf always has a tantrum. AJ�s was a doozie, the worst I�ve ever seen. Non-stop screaming, throwing things, total meltdown. N. was calmly mystified, as if he could not understand in the least why AJ should act that way. In the end, it was N. who snapped him out of it. They were just starting to have fun when it was time for N. to go home. When N.�s mother arrived, the two boys attempted to lock themselves in AJ�s bedroom. Unfortunately for them, they forgot I was in there too, so the plan was unsuccessful.

After N. left, the truth came out about AJ�s tantrum � he was upset because he thought I was acting like I liked N. better than I liked him. When I thought about it, it made perfect sense. AJ had been really excited about N coming over and had planned on showing him a bunch of his toys. But N wanted to go outside and play in the yard. I steered them towards the latter, as a) it was a beautiful day and I thought they should be outside and b) N was our guest. But AJ felt hurt, like I was siding with his friend over him. We had a long talk about how to treat guests, so hopefully he�ll be better next time. And hopefully I�ll be more sensitive to the situation before it turns into World War III.

After N left and AJ was in bed for his nap, my husband asked if I needed a drink � he�d witnessed the pyrotechnics from afar. I opted to save the drink for the fancy French restaurant we�re going to tonight when THE BABYSITTER COMES! Cocktail recommendations, anyone?

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