The Significance of Having Curly Hair
Author and Parenting Blog Writer Kara Zajac on chasing after Life, Love, and the pursuit of Happiness...
Mama, Guess What I Learned at School Today?
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It's that time of year again, the kids are back to school learning reading, writing, arithmetic, and other forms of education that we as parents seem to never know about. The other day Senia Mae screamed from the bathroom as I was in the kitchen preparing her peanut butter and jelly for lunch.
"Mama, Mama, I've got lice," she shrieked.
"What? How do you know it's lice?" I yelled through the house.
"The nurse at school showed us a video yesterday."
"Are you sure it's lice?" I asked nervously, trying to remember if we still had the special shampoo from last year when the little critters were running rampant at school.
"Yeah, I saw it flying around the sink in the bathroom."
"Honey, lice don't fly." I said as I walked back to investigate. "Show me what you are calling lice."
"See?" she pointed to a minute black fly that landed on the mirror of the medicine cabinet. "Lice." From the enthusiasm in her voice it almost sounded as if she was proud to be the carrier of lice.
"That's a fruit fly. Remember, I've been trying to catch them since we found that rotten potato in the kitchen?"
"Oh, yeah," she said.
"You probably shouldn't be parading around claiming you have lice. People kind of freak out over that," I said.
"Oh, OK." she said, moving onto the next conversation before I had time to check her scalp!
*****
Today's hot tub conversation started with:
"So Ms. Purdy, the school counselor, came into class yesterday. Guess what she talked to us about?" Senia Mae waited for us to guess.
"I don't know," I said.
"What?" Kim asked.
"Concussions and empathy," Senia Mae said proudly. "Mama, what is a concussion?"
"Well it's a traumatic brain injury," I said, thinking how advanced the school counseling system was to be teaching concussion education in the first grade. It was kickoff week in college football and I planned on sporting my pumpkin orange Tennessee Vols shirt that Saturday. "The counselor was talking about concussions?"
"No, that's not what it was," Senia Mae said.
"I did think concussions and empathy was a strange mix," I said more to Kim than Senia Mae. "Although it is very important to have empathy for people suffering from concussions. Those injuries are serious and can be permanent."
"Was the word caring?" Kim asked.
"Ummm, no, I don't think so," Senia Mae said.
"How about love and empathy?" I asked.
"That doesn't sound familiar."
"Well what did she talk about?" I asked.
"Like how to be nice and care about each others feelings."
"Oh... did she talk about compassion and empathy?" Kim asked.
"Yeah, that's it! Compassion and empathy!" Senia Mae said. "Mama, what is compassion?" and the conversation started all over again!
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Kara Zajac
The Significance of Having Curly Hair
Kara Zajac is a writer, chiropractor, mother, wife, & musician. She earned her B.S. from SUNY and Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Life Chiropractic College. Kara maintains a practice in Dawsonville, GA, where she helps people revitalize their lives naturally with chiropractic and Braincore Neurofeedback. Kara is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist who currently plays drums with The Jessie Albright Band. Kara’s blog has been included in Top Mommy Bloggers and her work has been in Imperfect Life Magazine, Ripped Jeans and Bifocals, and Just BE Parenting. Her bibliography includes: The Significance of Curly Hair, The Special Recipe for Making Babies, and her current novel, The Waiting is the Hardest Part. An excerpt from The Significance of Curly Hair was published in Stigma Fighters, a magazine supporting people battling mental illness. 3 chaps. of The Significance of Curly Hair were published in 2/20 edition of the Scarlet Leaf Review. An excerpt from The Special Recipe for Making Babies was a finalist in 2022’s Charlotte Lit/Lit South Award for Nonfiction. Kara resides in the North Georgia Mountains with her wife, Kim, and daughter, Senia Mae.
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