“DON’T CUT YOUR HAIR. TRICIA, THIS IS YOUR INTERVENTION”
The potentially lifesaving text from my friend, Danielle was sent after I blasted a snapchat selfie from the beautician’s chair with the caption, “Trying something new!”
She didn’t even snap me back, but instead, she sent a full on caps lock yell text to me! Why would my friend have such an intense reaction to this snap? Well…this story begins almost 2 years ago when this mom made a bad hair choice and blamed her friends.
In The Beginning…
Once upon a time, there was a smart mom named Tricia. This smart mom knew that long hair was best for her because she could throw it on top of her head in a quick messy top knot and all was right with the world. This mom loved changing her hair, so with her long hair, she could do fun french braids, try a new twist, curl or straighten and her desire for change was always satisfied. YouTube was always waiting and ready with a new tutorial on a funky style, and this mom tried it.
She was happy.
Her husband was happy because she was happy.
All was right with the world.
But then…
After her second son was born, Tricia’s desire to change was not satisfied with the latest YouTube tutorials. Her hair was falling out in clumps, and this angered her. She looked to more drastic measures to get this change. She went to her hair stylist and requested a dramatic cut. Her stylist said, you just gave birth, let’s give it some time…so the stylist cut Tricia’s hair to her shoulders and called it a day.
Tricia was not happy.
Tricia’s husband was not happy because Tricia was not happy, and he advised her to go and take care of it. So, she hopped in her car, drove to the nearest $12 hair salon, and told the stylist what she wanted: a pixie cut.
Her hair was gone. All of it. Gone.
At first, Tricia enjoyed this new freedom. She felt liberated to not spend an hour blow drying and styling. But then she realized, every morning she woke up with the worst case of bed head ever. She couldn’t just throw her hair in a ponytail and move on with life. No, she needed to shower and style EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
The Fallout
After a few weeks of this new style, she began to get testy about her new style. The snarky texts started flying to her momsquad, “Why didn’t you girls stop me??”. Every chance she got, she made a little jab at her friends taking the blame off of her and onto them. Her friends were hurt, “you didn’t even consult us first!” How could this mistake fall on their shoulders?
Luckily, her friend, Aryn, had a great solution. You need to come and see my sister-in law. She will take care of your hair! So, almost 1 year ago, Tricia’s relationship with her new hairdresser began. Her hair has gone from pixie to shoulder length with no end in sight. She has also given strict instructions to not allow ANYTHING other than color after baby #3 arrives in February!
The Moral of the Story
While hair cuts and styles are not end of the world problems, whenever my emotions/hormones are high, I tend to make impulsive decisions. I could literally chart various life events based on emotional state by graphing the length of my hair. My grandma died, chop chop. My college boyfriend ditched me, chop chop. Birth of 2nd child, chop chop…the stats speak for themselves.
In the end, what I really needed was to recognize that my world had just flipped. I needed to recognize that cutting my hair wasn’t going to solve problems, but asking for help or guidance would have.
When the going gets tough, don’t reach for the scissors, reach for the phone and call a friend!
