My Version of “Mom Hair”

My sister was horrified at the picture I chose to use in my profile here on UrbanMoms.  If it were up to her, she would have chosen an older picture of me where I was a little more done up, like this old black & white headshot that I’ve attached.

I look pretty plain in my UrbanMoms profile shot, I’ll admit.  But if I’m going to be truthful in what I write in this blog, I figure I might as well be truthful in my picture as well…and truthfully, I have fully adapted my own version of “mom hair”- the ponytail.

Now, many different people have many different ideas about what mom hair looks like.  I would guess that most people think of mom hair as short, wash-and-go styles.  The thing is, I had short hair in high school and it was stylish and looked good.  Think Drew Barrymore in the mid-90s.  So, to me, mom hair is defined as any hair style that you can do in under 5 minutes.  And for me, with long hair, that is a ponytail.

There was a time in my life, when I was my sister’s age (mid-20s) or younger, that I only rocked a ponytail at the gym or on a really bad day when I had woken up late.  I actually enjoyed getting up at least 30 minutes earlier then I needed to to wash and style my hair.  My hair got a lot of complements, which I loved, so it was worth it to me to lose sleep in order to have great hair! 

Things have changed though (I have a feeling you will read this phrase a lot in my blogs).  I generally have to choose between showering and eating during the Boy’s morning nap.  I usually choose eating.  At 6 months old, he still doesn’t have a consistent length for his nap times.  It’s easier to throw my hair back into a ponytail, straighten it out (my hair is naturally curly), throw on some makeup and get moving.   Additionally, the Boy feels that my hair is the best play thing around and, if I leave it down, you can be assured that huge chunks of it will end up in his teeny-tiny fingers.  And it hurts!

Nowadays, wearing my “pre-baby hair” (also known as long and brushed), it is only for special occasions.  Family photos, church, date night with the husband.  Those are really the only times I can imagine wearing my hair down.  The picture I used in my profile here is at my birthday.  Even that wasn’t a good enough occasion for pre-baby hair.

So, I’ve resigned myself to once again eat my words, cause you know I’d once said “I’ll never have mom hair”, and announce that I have adopted my own version of “Mom Hair”.  And that’s actually ok with me.  My hair and I had many wonderful years together, and once the boy is in school, I fully believe I will reserect my hair to its former glory. 

For the record though, I have made the foray into “Mom Jeans”…and I’m really hoping I never eat my words on that one:)