My Deliberate Avoidance of the “Mom Cut”
What does your hair look like?
Have you changed it much after having kids?
Do you ever feel like cutting it all off to make life a little bit easier?
You may recall the decision that Shelby made in Steel Magnolias – to cut off that beautiful mane because of her “need to make things as simple as possible.” You may have, like me, envied young Julia Roberts’ perfect hair all throughout the film only to gasp at the mom cut she is saddled with near the end.
She goes from this:
to this:
If you recall, she’s brought to tears by the shock. (As was I.) You’ll notice that she hardly ever dons hair this short in any film after that. Look how long and flowy and pretty it is in Erin Brockovich. Notting Hill. Mona Lisa Smile. My Best Friend’s Wedding. The Pelican Brief. Runaway Bride (my favorite look).
So, every time I’m set to have my hair cut, my hubby always says, “Don’t come home with a mom cut.” And he’s only half-joking. He’s picturing this. I always laugh and say, “I won’t!” I’ve generally had long hair my entire life. And as a full-figured momma, this suits me best. But it had never been as long as this before!
Yep, that’s me. 3 weeks ago.
It was kinda taking over the world. I wash it, pull it back wet, and ignore it. Which kinda told me that no matter how I cut my hair, it wouldn’t really matter, ’cause I’d never style it anyway! And how impractical! My one year old is always pulling it, just two or three strands at a time on accident, which is way more painful than pulling all of it, ya know? Plus, the heavier it got, the less clean it looked.
Before:
After:
I ended up taking 3 inches off, which is hardly noticeable to anyone. It looks cleaner. It’s less heavy. Overall, it is a conservative, practical cut. But I have a confession: I miss those inches.
I want my length back.
Because when I did fix it up, I felt as glamorous as Julia.
Now it’s your turn. Tell me your mom hair stories. If you can’t lose the long hair either, tell me. If you have an amazing short ’do that gives new meaning to the phrase ”mom cut”, show us! Link us to pictures. I love this one, but I’d never do it. What about you?
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I just cut 6 inches off yesterday. I cried in the chair…er sobbed uncontrollably in the chair. I am adjusting. It’s a process.
That’s hysterical! And perfect timing – I am wondering what to do with my mane. My hair is curly, but needs the weight of long hair to make the nice ringlets that I love. If I cut it too short, I get what my husband lovingly refers to as “triangle head.” So I’m stuck with long hair, but would kill to be able to cut it short and have it look decent. Although, at the rate that my son yanks it out, I might be completely bald by Christmas!
i am constantly cutting my hair off and growing it back again. before my son was born almost four years ago, my hair was long, long (well maybe not as long as your beautiful hair dawn) but it was at least to the middle of my back. but when i got pregnant i got hot and started chopping it off until i had a cute little bob. after he was born i started growing it long again. when it was finally the same length (two years later) i was pregnant with my daughter and cut it all off pixie-style-short. and now i’m growing it out again. we just found out we’re pregnant with our third. surprisingly, i don’t yet have the urge to cut my hair.
Most of you have seen my new do here. It’s been quite an adjustment, and I really did have a shock when the guy finished cutting my hair. I guess I’ve decided that over here (culturally speaking), married women with kids don’t have long hair. I have yet to see one.
had to come in to say LOVE your new cut dawn! it’s gorgeous! if you have long hair, style becomes even more important, don’t you think? i’ve struggled with the same issues too. i used to have short hair. in the last two years, i’ve grown it out because i was feeling like i had a “mom” cut. i’m sure i’ll cut it again one day, but it’s funny that i didn’t think anything of having short hair at 20, and now, it’s makes me feel older somehow.
I also LOVE your new style!!! It looks fantastic
My hair is LONGER than it’s ever been now that I’m a mom…the reason…I can’t seem to make ‘getting a haircut’ a priority. It’s been MONTHS since I’ve last gone for one!
BTW – Steel Magnolias is one of my favorite chick flicks. I cry. Every. Time.
I love pixie hairstyles! Jon isn’t real into them though so I don’t do them. Right now my hair is in between ponytail stage and fix it all the time stage. I am thinking of growing it out (again). I tend to do the same thing Jenny does. Grow and cut, grow and cut. I haven’t found a great hair stylist here in PA yet to shape my medium length hair. So I am up for growing it. I bet it gets chopped next time we go to Dallas!
Yes, Myra, long hair does require styling if I wear it down. Which is about 4 times a month.
To give my look variety, I often don bed-head. I pull it in a bun and sleep on it. The next morning I pull it out and scrunch it with lots of hairspray. Then it’s wavy and krinkly in just the right places. Then I wear a hat over it. I find it gives me the right effect for looking stylish without too much effort. Whenever I put hot rollers or a curling iron to my hair, it falls out pretty quickly after leaving the house, all that effort wasted! As you can tell, my hair is straight and fine, though it’s thick. I have to use products to give it texture to work with.
I wanted to get some color this time ’round but I didn’t have time (or money).
I’m also a big fan of pigtails, braids, and bandannas. I don’t care how old I get, these looks work for me.
Dawn, just wanna’ say that every single picture I have ever seen of you with pigtails has made me long for long hair. I love, love, love your hair piggie-tail-style, whether they’re loose or braided. Alas, I am not able to have a lengthy mane. Hair gets too flat or unruly, and I hate always putting it up in a ponytail. So it’s short styles for me. But no pixies. God, I would look like…well, let’s leave it to your imagination. Good post topic, btw.
I love your new haircut. I keep my hair shoulder-length. It makes me crazy when it’s too short to put in a ponytail.
I think your new hair looks great! I let a friend talk me into going to a “real” stylist (ie, costs more than $15, works in a fancy salon instead of the strip mall, etc.) I told her to go nuts and just make my long, thick, wavy, frizzy hair look good. She took off a few inches where it had gotten all nasty and split ends, then thinned out a TON, and added these cool spiky Pat Benatar-ish layers. She also taught me how to use a flat iron. It was a huge adjustment – I’d only ever done the all-one-length, air-dried ponytail look. But I LOVE my new hair! I feel so funky and sophisticated all at once. Sometime it takes someone with real talent to discover your true personality hidden in your hair
You look great. I’m going to grow my hair again damnit. I cut it short post baby because so much was falling out.
I’m still recovering from a semi-mom cut a year ago! My idea was to clean up my hair by getting rid of my layers and starting over. So I showed my stylist a pic of Gwyneth Paltrow’s chin length bob, saying I wanted a longer version and not to cut above my collar bone. Well, we had a miscommunication and somehow I got to angled pieces in front that barely skimmed my collar bone and the back was chin high. Oh, I cried and cried. And now FINALLY, one year later after many haircut ‘fixes’ to get rid of the horrible angle and style…my hair is finally back below my shoulders. Still much shorter than I would like, but I see progress. JUST SAY NO TO THE MOM CUT.
[...] will think and started looking up what other women’s post-baby hair experience has entailed. This post refers to the “dreaded” mom cut, and there is a certain sense of pride in being [...]