Colored Toes

We all went camping this past weekend, again. Haven’t finished my first batch of camping stories and here we packed up and headed off for the weekend again!

While camping, I repainted my fingernails and toenails. They needed to be done very badly and even though it was so hot they bubbled a bit, I felt much better when they were done in the dark blue color I had chosen. S3 looked them all over for me and declared they looked like blackberries so he liked them. S4 and S3 had a long conversation with me how boys can’t paint toenails and fingernails, it’s a girly thing to do.

We had this conversation and I thought nothing else of it. I should have.

On the rainy Monday we were home following the camping trip, S4 got a washable marker and colored all over himself. The boys held their breath; sure S4 was in huge trouble. It was hot, it was sticky, I was tired of arguing with the boys to clean their room and too tired to even care he had colored all over himself. Besides, it would all wash off anyhow. “Nice,” was my only response.

The boys were in shock. Moma had basically had no reaction to S4 being fully colored in a red marker!

Later that day, when the sun was out and I had shoved the boys out to play because, really, who wants to be cleaning ALL day long in a hot sticky house? Besides, they weren’t really cleaning anyhow and I had to get dinner ready and didn’t need them all coming down to ask AGAIN for another snack and me answer AGAIN no, that I was making dinner and they would not starve.

S3 and S4 suddenly came in the kitchen door and I could tell this was going to be bad. Really bad. In their hands was the turquoise PERMANENT marker my husband and used to make vegetable signs for our road side stand. On their bodies was the cool lines they had drawn. But what were unmistakable were their feet.

“We did not paint our toes, Moma,” S3 explained quickly.

“No,” S4 added, shaking his blonde head for emphasis.

“We colored our toes.”

“See?” S4 stuck his toes out for me to see.

“Girls paint, boys color. We colored them boys colors,” S3 explained seriously.

Now what do I do? Take pictures and hide the markers.