Pinkamonster

It all started a couple weeks ago when somehow, someway, Kaia became acutely aware of pink. On top of being aware of it, she also knew that she liked it. One afternoon she noticed my fresh toe nail color. She ignored the four nails done in a soft summer green, and instead zeroed in on the odd man out. The one toe not invited to the green party. What color was it?

"Pink. I like. Mommy, I want pink." Which I took as an adorable invitation to paint the Kai Kai's toes. Luck was in her favor and the single bottle of nail polish was just that: pink. She sat as still as a statue and let me hide her natural nail coloring with a layer of soft pink embedded with subtle sparkles. Perfect, right?

her "pink pants" and pink phone

Well, she let those toesies dry out before confessing her disdain. "I want PINK." It was not beyond her that her pink and my pink were not equivalent, which taught the silent lesson that all pinks are absolutely not alike. And some pinks are better than others. So the next day, her and I took a little walk to CVS where she could determine which shade of pink was acceptable and there, we bought her first bottle of nail polish. Bright pink.

I thought this was all adorable. I lovingly referred to her as Pinkalicious and was all about playing into this girly-girl rant. After all, mothering three boys for 6 years with minimal pink in the house leaves this scenario wide open to having a big ole welcome in my heart. I was willing to play the part and support the pink habit. Which is why when Kaia needed new sandals I didn't even think twice before picking out the pink Saltwaters. Obvi. 

And a couple weeks later I may or may not have tipped Kaia's daddy off to some other pink and purple sandals that would absolutely thrill Kaia if Daddy were to come home one day with those in hand. PS…. I was right. Daddy won major points with those (which somehow always equals me losing points…) 

Yes, our cute little Pinkalicious.

Well now I am here to tell you, I don't know what happened to Pinkalicious. I have absolutely no idea where she has gone. Because in her place, we have now met

PINKAMONSTER.

wearing her pink shoes, picking her pink flowers.

This past week has been like Groundhog Day. I walk into her pitch black bedroom to get her and before her eyes are fully open, before she has reeled out the 12 inches of her nasty, tattered, can't-live-without blankie from her mouth, before she has reconciled dream world with reality, she is already shooting out a demand. And please do not make the mistake of underestimating the word demand. It is nothing short of it.

"I. WANT. PINK."

Her eyes finally do open and mysteriously, they are a brilliant green, blazing in the darkness,

"I. WANT. PINK."

Pinkamonster is in da house. And not messing around. There are no coy head tilts with an accompanying cute smile. Huh uh. There are no please and thank you's. There is no room for misinterpretation. Homegirl is ready to get dressed- she wants pink and she wants it now.

I must say I could have never known this was going to happen so suddenly and so drastically, this NEED for pink. Despite warnings and predictions of mamas that came before me, I was not prepared. Much like those who didn't heed the advice and get their emergency preparedness in check for the earthquakes and storms or whatever other natural disaster is assuredly coming to get us. Despite all the warnings and reminders and predictions and precursors, they had nothing.

Here I was, weathering my own storm, with next to nothing. But I swear just last week Kaia was content wearing the cute birdie shirts I picked out, and the blue aztec patterned leggings that {I} absolutely love. We do not have a shortage of cute, adorable, little girl clothes. We just have a shortage of…pink.

Back to the brilliant, demonic eyes insisting on pink. We pulled something to together {a swimsuit cover up turned dress apparently} and coupled that with some little gray booty shorts that barely showed and called it good. Satisfactory to the one in charge.

But can we take a quick time out and discuss the completely, unarguable irrational behavior of this girl? I shouldn't be giving in to these type of demands anyway, right? I mean, is it really sane to expect to wear nothing but pink every single day? As a mother, don't I need to take a stand, teach her that you get what you get and you don't get upset?

Well, Kaia and I had our first mommy/daughter shopping trip together where we walked out of Old Navy with Kaia-picked pink sandals. And a pink swimsuit. And a pink skirt. And a pink dress. And a couple pink tank tops.

Pinkamonster.

Feed the monster.