Andrea’s Weblog

Frank and I went out on a date last Sunday. Our neighbor, Lisa, offered to watch Elizabeth, which was super-nice because that meant I didn’t have to tidy the house for a babysitter.

We went to a nicer restaurant and weren’t sure how kid-friendly it would be. It turns out that we needn’t have worried. There were several babies and toddlers there. Well, there was one baby and two beauty pagent babies with big-haired mothers and bejeweled fathers. Around here, it can only mean that they are Irish Travellers.  This is the group of people featured in the movie Snatch with Brad Pitt.

In the world of Irish Travellers, matchmaking begins at birth, so you always gotta look good. This means putting blue eyeshadow and big bows in your 9 month old’s hair and dressing your 1 year old boy in matching Polo shirt, Polo shoes and Polo socks with a big gold chain necklace. (Who knew they made polo shoes for babies??) The babies had styled hair - moussed and gelled to perfection. You can only imagine how the parents looked, given this description of their offspring.

Luckily these groups of Irish Travellers arrived while we were finishing our meal. I just couldn’t help but stare at these people from a different world. Where did these new moms get hours to do their hair? How did they get the baby to hold still for gel? Why isn’t the baby trying to choke himself with that gold chain? Why is it that this group of people, infamous for swindling money from people, draw such attention to themselves?

I doubt anybody’s going to jump in with the answers to these questions. I’ll just be satisfied knowing that I already have a response to when Elizabeth asks to wear make-up to preschool. “You don’t want people to think you’re an Irish Traveller do you?”