Mom hair

The other day, I asked my Girl Scout troop if they ever thought what they would look like when they get older. Would they have the same style? Would they still have the same hairstyle? These are girls who have seen my prom picture so you can imagine that an entire discussion ensued about big hair and 80s fashion. Of course, they think it's so very funny to laugh at this old lady. And then I remind them that it was my generation that made acid wash and ripped jeans a trend and that we rocked denim jackets and cropped sweaters before they did. And that shuts them up because they don't want to admit that their moms were once cool and actually wore mom jeans before mom jeans were called mom jeans.

And just after that discussion, I received some old photographs from my aunt that I had never seen before. They were of my mom at different ages. From the time I was born until she died nearly four years ago, my mother rocked at least a dozen different hair styles. Back in the 70s, there was a wig involved to give her a bouffant. In the 80s, she wore curlers to bed every night. She had big hair, short hair, brown hair, blondish hair, grey hair, white hair. And it didn't just change in her adulthood. In every one of those old photos, she was in a different hairstyle. I barely even recognized her in a bob. Sometimes she had curls, sometimes not. I'll never know why my mother changed her hair so much. Maybe she was bored. Maybe she was insecure about it. But, I do know that it was always different. And I also know that my kids have never seen me with different hair.

Sure, they've seen photos of the mullet, the shaved sides, the perm (oh Lord, the perms!), the bangs, the sun-in. But, in real life, they've only seen the brown, pin-straight, no-bangs, shoulder-length hair. Is this my mom hair? Is this the hair I will have for the rest of my life?

How will you know? Is there an age when you just decide that this will be your hairstyle forever? It's got to be much easier for guys, right? Do they worry about their part? Do they think about the color? Do they imagine that their hairstyle defines them?

Obviously, the style we choose may not be the most trendy or fashion-forward. If it was, they wouldn't have so many Mom Makeovers on the Today Show. Not that I really care about trends. My idea of doing my hair is washing it, combing it and leaving the house. I don't need hair that needs maintenance. So maybe I will stick the hairdo I have. It's plain and boring and easy to manage. Or I could always get a perm. I think my kids would love that.