When Parents Leave...

Last week Hubs went up to Boy Scout camp with the troop and I went on a business trip (my first one in about 25 years!). Which meant that three of the kids--DS#1, DD#1, and DD#2--were left home.

I did all the good mom things: I left a copy of my itinerary, I left the phone number of the hotel where I was staying, the number of my manager, all the aunts and uncles living in the area, several longtime local friends and neighbors, and medical treatment authorization allowing DS#1 and DD#1 (who are both over 18) to take DD#2 in to the doctor, dentist, and orthodontist just in case.

I didn't specifically cover changing your hair color.

DD#1, who has beautiful auburn hair, a color costs hundreds of dollars to duplicate in a salon, was streaking her hair burgundy and black. DD#2 asked her older sister to tip her hair. So, she did. The results are above.

DD#2 went to a birthday party. All her friends loved her hair. They thought it was so cool. And they were impressed that her mom (me) let her do it. So I guess I'm cool by association.

When I got home, DD#2 couldn't wait to show me. I think it looks kind of pretty and I'm also glad she did this early in the summer rather than, say, right before school starts. The color is supposed to fade in about six weeks. If it doesn't, we can always cut it (DD#2 goes to a Catholic K-8 school and they have a "No fad haircuts/no dyes" rule) without her hair being "too short."

However, if her hair still has some color by the first day of school, I might just let her keep it . She'll be starting 8th Grade, so this is our family's last year in the school. We are not known as being particularly fashionable or fashion-conscious. (I prefer to be a troublemaker in different ways.) The 8th Grade Homeroom teacher is pretty difficult to rattle and she might get a kick out of it--and then tell DD#2 to cut her hair.