Day 6/7

It's official. I can now do a princess's hair with confidence. For the most part, at least. I've been working the chair for the past two days, and I must say, it's quite fun. Stressful, but fun. It also makes the day go by a lot faster when I can count the princesses instead of the hours. I do about four princesses from opening to first tea, and then three to four princesses (depending on the hairstyle) before second tea. And then I'll finish up with two princesses, unless one is particularly difficult. So all in all, I did about 10 to 11 princesses today. Yesterday I only did three, though, because it was my first day on chair with my second trainer, Connie. She had me watch her for most of the day, and then towards the end I took over and she showed me the ropes.

I've discovered that I am not a talker. Connie and Amanda prepared me beforehand for the different types of Fairy Godmothers in Training, and she said that some get loud, some sing, some just ask questions, some prattle on... and then there's some like me, who stop talking as soon as we start on the hair. I discovered that I'm quite chatty in the beginning when I introduce myself, ask how old they are, where their castle is, and what hairstyle they would like. I've also got my script about how the princesses come downstairs every morning to get their hair done and Princess Aurora has pink bunny slippers that she likes to wear. I've also got it fairly memorized that Cinderella's crown is missing from the boutique for some reason we don't know--we think that perhaps pirates snuck in during the night and stole it, or perhaps it's being cleaned for a ball that night (there is a row of really expensive, elaborate crowns that each belong to a certain princess that are on display in the boutique, but Cinderella's has been taken down for some reason). If they say that Ariel is their favorite, or if they have really tangly hair, I can say that when Ariel comes in, it always takes quite a bit of time because her hair is always tangled and full of seaweed and dinglehoppers.

But other than these stories, I'm not a talker. We usually get through this conversation all in the beginning while I'm preparing to start working on their hair--helping them pick combs, crowns, nail polish, etc. But once I actually start to work on their hair, I instantly stop talking and just work.

At first I thought it was a bad thing, and I've tried to work on it, but Connie has reassured me that there are several who work the same way. She said that she herself does that, because it's hard for her to hear, and most of the princesses talk quietly. It's a loud room, and they're facing away from me, so I can never hear them unless I lean down next to them--but then I ruin the hair I'm working on. I'm feeling better about it now, and I don't feel quite as much pressure to keep up conversation as I work. Sometimes the parents will stand next to me and talk, and that's fine because I can hear them, but it looks silly to be bent over the princess asking "What?" over and over again because I can't hear them. And I tend to get the shy ones. All of my girls have been extremely quiet and shy, which is nice for me, because it means they don't particularly want to talk. So no pressure for me.

The best was a little Spanish princess who came in yesterday. First off, she had some of the most gorgeous hair ever. Second, she spoke barely any English, and her father reassured me that it was alright and that I didn't need to get a translator or someone who spoke Spanish to do her hair instead. So she said patiently and quietly as I worked, and at the end, she didn't give the big "WOW!" reaction that some girls do, but her face just lit up and she smiled and thanked me quietly, and she got the biggest emotional reaction out of me yet. It's cute when the girls have a huge reaction to seeing themselves in the mirror, but it's girls like her who are so polite and genuinely happy with what you do that make it worthwhile.

I was extremely nervous with my first princess yesterday, and wanted to cry once it was over. I thought I'd done horribly--I'd barely talked at all, the bun was slightly crooked, and there was a little bump in the back. Connie assured me that it was well done and that I was far surpassing her expectations, but I was convinced that she was just being nice since she could tell I wasn't pleased with my work. What made me feel better, however, was as I was in the back room washing my hands, I had several other Fairy Godmothers in Training come up to me just to say that I'd done a beautiful job and they were very impressed. I still wasn't entirely convinced, until tea when we all sat together and people started telling me about their first chair experience. Next to them, mine was a breeze. And then Connie confided that I was her best trainee yet, and she was surprised with how quickly I had learned everything. It's been a huge relief to hear it, because I still feel really inexperienced, but I guess a lot of the girls in here came with absolutely no hair experience and because I've had some, it's been a lot smoother for me.

Today's biggest story was the Pumba Princess. A Pumba Princess is a princess with a head full of lice. It's a big deal in a boutique dedicated to styling hair. With everyone working on hair, we don't want to spread lice around to the entire boutique. I wasn't there for it because I was taking my tea, but one of the girls who had to confirm it was telling me that her head was almost completely covered in eggs. They quickly threw her hair up in a slightly messy princess bun and then sent her on her way. And then the fun began.

When a Pumba Princess comes in, the chair she was at must be completely scrubbed down, as does the surrounding area. Anything that the Fairy Godmother in Training touched during the time she's with the Pumba Princess must be thrown into a yellow plastic bag that looks as if it should say "TOXIC WASTE" in big black letters. Then the Fairy Godmother in Training must run to the back and strip. All of the costume pieces must be separated into different yellow bags, and then they have to run down to the tunnels to the locker room to shower with some shampoo for lice. After that, they have to hop on the bus and go to the costuming warehouse to drop off the bags to be majorly cleaned. It's a big hassle and quite the process, so be warned: Don't bring your kids if they have lice. Apparently some parents bring their kids even when they know they have lice. I think that's just mean. To the Fairy Godmothers in Training AND the princesses.

After work today all of us but Bri headed over to Epcot for a little bit. We rode the crash test dummy ride... the name escapes me right now, but it was fun. Then we headed over to Italy to grab some gelato and watch the fireworks/laser/light show. We were planning to head over to the Magic Kingdom afterwards, but we were all so exhausted from work today and it was so hot and humid that we decided to just head back home. I'm glad because I have tomorrow and Wednesday off, and then Thursday is my last day of training and Friday I begin my normal hours without a trainer. I'm definitely glad that my break is tomorrow--it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. My poor feet have just about had it, and I need to get some shopping done for the job, but I just haven't had time to. Tomorrow will be a good break to get everything done that I need to. I haven't had a break since I started, and it was sad that I had to work on Sunday and miss church. Hopefully I'll be able to get most Sundays off so that I can attend church, because I have a feeling that that's the place where I'll make some good friends (aside from my roommates, of course). Well, there's always next week. :)