Bad Hair Life

We are THAT Family is hosting a bloggy carnival called Sincerely, ‘Fro Me To You, which is an opportunity for me to reminiscence in the blogosphere.

Today, I would like to share with you the tragedy that has been the life of my hair. I’m sure lots of girls have poodle-perm photos from the ‘80s that they don’t display prominently in frames in their living rooms, but I have a couple photos that are worse than that.

When I was growing up, my mother was anti-hair. She had six sisters, and that evidently led to a hatred of all things hairy. She despised hair in the bathtub drain and stray hair on the kitchen counter was her worst enemy. We were forbidden to even carry a hairbrush through the kitchen for fear that we might contaminate something. Consequently, my sister and I always had very short haircuts.

Not only was long hair forbidden, but I had several hair tragedies as a youngster. When I was 11 years old, my hair caught fire while I was trying to spray starter fluid into the intake manifold while my mom tried to start our ancient station wagon. (does it sound like I know what I’m talking about? I’m not really sure that’s where starter fluid is supposed to go, but that might explain the fire.)

After months and months of growing my hair out after that tragedy, my brothers came home from school with head lice. I suppose when you have four children and absolutely no patience, the only reasonable option would be to shave their heads bald. So, I wore a lot of hats during eighth grade. I did have one teacher that forced me to remove the hat once, but once she saw the devastation, she asked me to put my hat back on. She was the only teacher that asked, so my hair must have been the topic of conversation in the teacher’s lounge that day.

The life of my hair has improved significantly in the past few decades, but I would never decline an opportunity for a little hair help.

I’m one of three finalists for a Mother’s Day Makeover contest that is being hosted by a local television station. If you agree that I’ve had a bad hair life, please vote for me here!

You can read more Sincerely, ‘Fro Me To You at the We Are THAT Family blog.