author's note: while the hair discussed in here is mine, i promise i will connect the two topics. wait and see....
i tend to be picky about my hair. it's this full, curly, and up until recently, long mass. cut it too short and i look like a poodle, especially when it rains. don't put in enough layers and it looks like someone stuck a hair pyramid around my head: top flat, bottom curling and very wide. none of the hair styles that you would imagine working on my hair type work on my hair. they require work and i refuse to work at my hair. crunch it up, sleep on it wet to encourage curls, toss it into a ponytail or clip, these things i will do. roll, blow dry, curl, straighten with a flat iron, crinkle, whatever, these things i will not do -- i have other things that demand my time. so, yea, the cut must work, which means i have to find people who understand curly hair and won't get too creative with it. problem is, this usually cost. and with long hair, it can cost quite a lot. but i can't afford hair cuts at the moment, so i do it my way.
my way consists of wet hair, brushed fully over to the front of my head, me starting the cut, and someone else finishing on as straight a line as they can manage. it's not professional, it's not styled, but it does work: i choose my length and the layers are built in by virtue that it's all cut while in front of my face. it won't win awards, but it works.
tonight, kitten (kid #1, by the way) asked if she could make a suggestion. since she's made a few other comments recently, i said, "cut my hair." i agreed maybe it was time and said we could do it right now. the look on her face was priceless. she definitely didn't expect to be roped into helping, but the husband is sleeping and it was her suggestions.
really, i think it was part of her evil plan.
i got my hair wet, dried, and brushed, then i made the first cut and explained her part in the process. to be fair, it was her first time doing this, and a straight line when eyeballing it can be difficult to do, but still the "oh, um" wasn't comforting. she had cut her first section, which was right next to the guide, shorter than the guide. and the next even shorter. i told her to go longer on the next few sections -- the unevenness will likely only be noticed by a hair dresser, and only close up -- but i have no idea if she managed it. so my hair is cut, just shorter than planned, and not as even as usual.
i remind myself that hair will grow and that this was the girl's first time. it's all i can do now that it's over.
and speaking of girls, froggy (note: kid #2, thereby fulfilling my promise at the top of this entry) turns a whopping 15 tomorrow. 15! really, where does the time go? and why don't i remember it all? (you know, the whole age thing doesn't ever seem to hit me with taz -- kind #3 -- the way it does with the girls; growing hair on above his upper lip does, but not birthdays. just an interesting difference in how i react to the kids when it comes to getting older.) froggy is the one kid closest to me in attitude -- you just can't keep her down. she gets upset, lets it out, and 5 minutes later is acting like nothing happened. really, she is a dose of my own medicine...i'm never quite sure if whatever discipline or talk ever sank in at all. since she's adhd, behavior isn't always the way to tell because she has a high level of implusivity along with the talkativeness. her meds seem to help more with grades than controlling the tendency to talk all the time or help with impulse control. really, i'll take the grades.
at the same time, she has a lot of her own self in that tiny package. and she is the smallest of the three girls -- just over 5' (yes, shorter than even her mother who, until now, has been the shortest at 5' 4 1/2") and in a size 5 jean. while she'd like to get taller, she seems to have a healthy appreciation for her body, which is nice to see. the only thing she'd like to change, she's told me, is her nose. frighteningly enough, that's what i wanted to change at her age.
i suppose some of the age-shock is because she's likely the last one to move out. taz will probably always need to live with someone -- i just don't see him capable of moving out on his own and managing a home. more than likely, he'll stay with us until he's too much for us to manage, the he'll move in with one of the girls (and the arguments, believe it or not, have already begun over who). so, froggy is the last one to become independent and move into her own place. it'll be a few years, but time has a funny way of going faster than we expect when we're not even looking.
the kid will be 15 tomorrow. somehow, i just didn't see it coming...until now.
