notes from nanland

October 30 - Haircuts Early on, getting our boys to get a haircut was a challenge.  Terry took them to get a haircut and when they arrived at the barbershop, they wouldn't get out of the car.  He'd open up the rear doors and they'd jump in the back.  He'd go open the back hatch and they'd jump to the middle seat laughing - back and forth they went while Wendy, their stylist, stood in the window laughing at the show.  It took a good 15 minutes and promises of pennies for the gumball machine before they would go in. When we got home, they complained about hair being stuck on their lips.  They had both put on Chapstick before their haircuts.  This prompted a word of advice from Nan that Allison put in Notes from nanland:  "Never put on Chapstick before you get your haircut!"

When Allison was young, after Nan had given her some motherly advice she thought was particularly funny, she told her mother, "Mom, you live in your own little world. You live in nanland.  I'm going to write down all the crazy things you say and someday I'll publish my "Notes from Nanland" for all the world to see."   It became a family joke to hear a comment from Nan and say "THAT'S going in the book!"   Here's a story about one of the items Allison wrote in her book. One evening at dinner, the kids noted that the hamburgers they were eating were rather small and tasted differently than their usual fare.  One of the kids noted that and mentioned it to Nan.  Her reply was "They're gourmet!" which received a quizzical look from everyone.   Now our kids all knew our family rule; if you complain about the food, you get to do the dishes.  So, from this point on, whenever they were served something new or something they didn