When I was in grade school, probably about 10 or 11 years old, my dad took me to get my hair cut. I was entering that really awkward tween stage and feeling kind of low so I decided to spring for a hair cut that would make me feel older and more sophisticated. How many of you constantly find yourself disappointed by a haircut because you’d secretly hoped it would transform you into the “Cinderella” version of yourself but in the end it was still just you there underneath the new ‘do? I’ve experienced it more times than I’d care to count – and this was probably the first time.
The guy at the salon suggested a pixie cut which I immediately decided was perfect because what could be more beautiful and delicate than a pixie? I pictured myself blossoming into a chic Tinker Bell-esque beauty. All my problems were going to go away with this haircut, you know. But I left looking more like this…
Word of warning to young girls and their mothers: A hair cut this short on a girl with no curves (i.e. pre-puberty) will not make her more feminine. Especially if she’s not one of those “girly” girls who wears makeup or skirts and dresses on a regular basis. This hair cut is the reason a lunch lady once called me YOUNG MAN and pretty much ruined my self esteem for years. No longer was I the “Winnifred” of my Wonder Years, because I now worried that I looked more like Fred Savage.
You think it can’t get worse but I haven’t told you about how the back was basically a tiny little rat tail. Oh yes, I am not lying. It was pretty bad folks. But a good thing came from this very bad haircut. I have no fear now when it comes to my hair – I’ve cut it short again many times and I actually usually like it – now that I’ve got those blessed curves. In my mind, it really can’t get any worse than that awful hair cut which I’ve already survived and lived to tell the tale of. So hit me with your best shot, is what I figure. I’ll get over it. I’ve had worse.
And I have to say, looking back on this picture – it’s not as bad as I remembered it. I’m not loving it, as I’m not prone to loving pictures of myself and the memories are still strong enough to make me shudder a little. But if I’m going to be honest with myself and everyone else reading this (all three of you), it wasn’t that bad. It was probably mostly only that bad in my mind…
But sometimes in my darker moments of Jen-dom, I’m secretly still this disappointed little girl who hoped a hair cut might magically transform me into the girl I wanted to be but ended up with a rat tail and a bit of a complex instead. No matter how many times my husband tells me I’m beautiful, I usually still feel like a gawky pre-teen, uncomfortable in her own skin, waiting, waiting for the Cinderella Moment of my story…
But I think it’s just a matter of perspective – that we already are Cinderella to everyone else – and the only one seeing the pumpkin and the rags underneath our self esteem and emotional baggage is ourselves.
What’s the worst haircut you’ve had?
Mommablogsalot 
6 responses to “Waiting For My Cinderella Moment”
If it helps, I was a sophomore in hs & had my hair cut @ least that short. I have a photo of me @ girl’s camp & you can’t even tell that I’m a girl. How depressing!
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It’s funny how we all remember all the horror stories of our own hair, but no one else seemed to even notice 🙂 It wasn’t a horrible haircut, but when I was in 1st grade my Dad actually put a mixing bowl upside down on my head and trimmed my hair around it. After that I had my hair long, but my Dad was always the one to trim it and he did a great job.
Like Connie, I let my kids do what they will with their hair as long as it was taken care of. I’ve got some real odd school photos of my youngest son with all his hair experiments 🙂 Today he’s 28 and still wears it long…he says he’ll cut it when he’s bald on top which probably isn’t that fair off!
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My mom always chose my haircuts, and I always hated them. I guess, at least, I didn’t have to blame myself 😀 Now my hair is usually determined by my family. I like my hair short, but my husband and kids want it as long as possible… My hair is thin and doesn’t ‘do’ long well without a perm… but what the heck. It makes them happy, so I only cut it when it gets damaged (which thin hair does when it gets long). I also let them pick my hair colors… I like to use the temp dyes for the conditioning effect more than anything, but it is fun to try different shades too. So far the kids are picking very nice colors for me (but they aren’t teens, yet). My best cuts are always the ones I do myself.
Your pixie cut is cute! But I understand… it might look cute in a ‘stranger in a magazine’ way, but it isn’t what you wanted. That matters!
I let my kids wear their hair how they want. My only rule is they must keep it washed, and combed, and tied up when needed. I’m teaching them to put in their own ponytails for PE days too. My son has hair half way down his back and being in control of his hair, and dealing with people who mistake him for a girl (on purpose or not) has given him a good degree of self-confidence in his looks. It’s HIS hair. He’ll have to deal with conforming to norms later… might as well let him build up some positive attitude (in the form of “Whatever, it’s just hair”) in the meantime.
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Aw Jen. What a wonderfully honest post. Even though I hear what you’re saying and can picture how this cute little cut would hurt a little girl’s self-esteem, you really were (and are) adorable.
You know what makes you beautiful, in addition to your outward appearance? Your heart.
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Great post! I’ve had my share of fantasy Cinderalla cuts that turned out like duds..I’ve got one right now as a matter of fact. 🙂
I don’t think it was that bad either.
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haha. I was about the same age (maybe younger) when my step mother convinced me that a bowl cut with a tail would be tres chic. Needless to say, that wasn’t my cinderella moment.
Every time I leave Wish salon, I have a cinderella moment for real. Then one of the kids gets food on my shirt.
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