I’m not in the Long Hair, Don’t Care Club anymore. My membership card was revoked and my picture was taken off of the official website. The office doesn’t return my calls anymore and I’m feeling like a rejected lovechild.
I cut off my pigtails about a month ago and now I have to *gasp* style my hair. Gel has become my friend again. I can no longer just throw on a baseball cap over pigtails and go.
I use the term short hair loosely. It still reaches just below my chin. Before chopping off 8+ inches of hair, braid and twist outs were my go-to styles. I never put much effort into styling my hair. My long hair and I had a great relationship. I would unravel my hair, fluff, and go. An occasional hat, scarf, or accessory gave me the added pizazz I needed to spice up my ‘do.
See, when you have a one, three, and six year old, they don’t leave you much time to devote to yourself. Bathroom breaks have become a retreat but even those are prone to be cut short by little fists pounding on the other side of the door or stubby fingers wiggling underneath. This usually accompanies high pitched wailing or some sense of urgency to pry me away from my throne room.
I do make time for my daily workouts; that is the least I can do to maintain my sanity by burning off calories and forgetting about house/kids/husband/laundry/work/dinner/etc for 30-45 minutes. When my main focus is pushing through an intense workout, the screams of my muscles seem to overshadow the screams of my children. Hey, if they’re screaming they’re still alive, right?
Back to my hair; I have become much more of a free-spirit since going natural. Mind you, I wasn’t perming my hair. I was straightening my hair regularly so much that I killed my curl pattern. Weekly trips to the salon for a bone straight press and curl left me with limp wavy hair that had no curl. I haven’t straightened my hair since January 2012.
I’m not against straightening hair, I just haven’t figured out a way to straighten my hair without damaging it. I’m not anxious to fork over big bucks for a proper press either, especially when I enjoy rocking my curls. Every now and then I’m tempted to pull out my pressing comb, but the thought of sitting in the kitchen for a few hours over the stove quickly dismisses that notion.
I’m looking for different ways to style my shorter hair. I watch YouTube styling videos of women doing flat twists and perm rod sets while I think to myself, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.” Therefore, I’m stuck with my curly Afro most of the time and I’m happy with it. Gone are the press and curl days where I couldn’t have a strand of hair out of place. Slicking my hair down to perfection is now but a faint memory. I now rock the wild and carefree look and I get a lot of compliments on it. It works whether I dress down or dress up and I don’t have to put a lot of time into it.
I figure that I’ll have more time to invest in styling my hair when the kids get through their needy stage of constantly having to be up under me. Until then I’ll settle with my curly Afro. I’m content with going back to the Short Hair, Don’t Care Club. They welcomed me back with open arms as if I’d never left. Hey Shorty!
Fierce Naturals 