It's Only Hair

My youngest granddaughter is 5 years old, soon to be 16. Oops! Did I say that? I meant 6.

After sunning all day at the beach, she comes into my bathroom, while I am in the shower, to take a bath and get ready for dinner. You would have thought she was headed to the prom.

When she gets out of the shower, it's all about the hair. Already. At 5.

It's very helpful that I had 3 daughters and am used to hair emergencies.

So she gets out and dries off and immediately surveys my inventory of combs and brushes and finds it sorely lacking, for I have only one brush and one comb. And the brush isn't even round.

"Nina, (that's what she calls me), do you have a curling iron?" she says eyeing my brush dubiously.

"No Honey, I don't use a curling iron. But I do have a great hair dryer". Well you can tell that isn't gonna cut it, I better think quick.

"Why would you want a curling iron? No one uses them anymore, they are so passe". I try to be flippant about it - apparently it works because she doesn't even ask what passe means.

"Well do you have clips? You could dry my hair, flip it up on the sides and clip it with pretty little butterfly clips".

"I replied, "This isn't Walgreens. What you see is what you get, here's a rubber band."

Her little mouth sets in a firm line. She is still determined to walk out of here like she was done up for a photo shoot.

"Nina, this isn't working. It's so PLAIN!"

"Do I look like a hairstylist? Am I wearing a smock? Is my hair even remotely like anything you have ever seen in a magazine? Here have some hair gel, I know how to scrunch."

As I get older I have realized two truths; you can humor yourself out of almost any situation, and if you can't, bribery is not going to send you to Hell.

Humor is not cutting it so I work move to stage 2 - bribery.

"Hey, lookey here, I have some eye shadow. How about if you drop the whole hair thing and I will let you use some eyeshadow?"

"What color do you have?"

"I have golden brown and grey."


" I want gold. Can you make a pony tail?"


Sure I can.