Haircut One Hundred

Last May after Keratin straightening 

My daughter ran into a soccer mom yesterday, someone neither she nor I have seen since the school season ended back in February.

“How’s your mom?” asked the woman.

“She cut off all her hair,” responded my daughter.

I wish I could have seen the expression on the woman’s face when she heard this. If I had heard someone had cut off all her hair, I’d think she went a little nuts.

Well, maybe I did.

Last May I succumbed to my first hair process ever. I had it straightened. And for about five minutes I had the silky straight, flowing follicles of a regular Breck girl. (Don’t know what a Breck girl is? Ask your mother). Unfortunately, during a regular Wisconsin summer filled with lake water and humidity, it wasn’t long before my hair was back in corkscrews.

When I returned to Tucson, I learned that my hairdresser had moved to Jersey. So, ever since September, it’s been ponytail city for this soccer mom.

New hair: Curly version

Finally, it came time for me to do something about what ultimately was a lot of dry, damaged hair. During a phone conversation with my friend, Diana, we got off the subject of our teenage daughters and on the subject of our middle-aged hair. She recommended two stylists in Tucson, one for cut and one for color. I made appointments immediately, before I had the chance to chicken out.

New hair: Straight version

Because I just wasn’t happy with my long hair anymore, I felt my only option was to have it all cut off. Yikes. I still don’t know if it was the right decision. I’ve received a lot of comments—compliments even—but I think most people are simply reacting to the change and how short it is.

My hair hasn’t been this short since I was three years old.

“Who are you and what did you do with my wife?” asked my husband when I came home from getting it cut.

I’ve been avoiding the mirror because every time I look into it, I don’t recognize that person either. She no longer looks like a girl—she looks like a mom.