I found the comment "you can't reason with a child that age" very interesting. Parenting books all tell you to reason with children. Unfortunately these pop psychologists forgot their child development and the FACTS that brain development does not enable reasoning until well into school age!! What Linda is going to learn the hard way, if she doesn't get to the parenting/authority ability to say "enough, go to your room" and have the child comply, when he is 13 this will not be cute. How a relationship plays out when they are young tells much about how it will work when they are older. Look out world another out of control teen is on the way!!

Thanks, everybody, and I'll leave her coat alone. Besides, I'm dealing with royalty here, and such matters are not for me to decide anyway. I DIY all Sophie's grooming. She loves the brush, and believe it or not, she loves water too. I bathe her myself right in the shower. Heck, she frequently hops up on the sink, waits for me to turn on the faucet (and adjust the temperature, of course), then she bathes herself. She won't drink water from a bowl, either - only from the faucet. It's hilarious. As for claws, she has never touched me, or anything that belongs to me, with her claws, so I don't know if they need trimming or not. She tears daylights outa' the scratch-blocks that I put in every room, and sometimes she plays a little rough with Leo (my other cat - a blue-collar, meat-and-potatoes alley cat from the shelter), but she claws nothing else. I'll check her claws anyway. I tried to post pics to the pet gallery, but it didn't work. I'll see'f I can figure it out, and try again.

I have longish straight hair. I only get it cut 2-3x a year usually, and just started dying it again, because my grays are getting out of control. I buy a demi-permanent dye from my salon for only $10 (a little different from a semi perm. but fades out over time the same way), and do it myself at home right after I get it cut.

I've been doing the "Flobbie" for a couple of yeas but a couple of weeks ago when checking out of Walmart I spotted a lady with the haircut I really liked and asked her if I could borrow her for a few minutes to show the hair dresser in the Beauty Salon. So I dragged her there and asked if aanyone there could cut my hair like hers and one gal Jill, said she could. I thanked the lady (who had a good story to tell when she got home) and Jill commenced to cut, wash, set and comb mine out. It was great. I think I told this story here sometime in the past week or so. I've been back once and plan to go the end of this week. It is nice to find a gal who does what you want her to do!!