The "Mom" Hair

I have never liked ponytails on myself. Sure, they look cute on other women...but not me. Nope, I just end up looking like a boy...or someone with no hair. 

 Even with bangs, I just can't rock the ponytail! Whenever I do just give in to the ease of a ponytail, I always end up seeing someone with fabulous hair, or getting my picture taken. Murphy's Law at its finest.

After having Molly, I fell into a pattern of "mom" hair - not that it looked bad, it just wasn't my normal way of doing my hair. I didn't have "time" to blow dry/straighten every day. 

But guess what? Your baby will be just fine if you spend 15-20 minutes doing your hair and makeup every day. She will not die from being strapped in the carseat with some toys while you shave your legs and use a little hair product.

Don't get me wrong - Molly doesn't like it when I divide my attention, but she has also (after a few weeks) gotten used to it. Now, my routine looks something like this:

Feed baby, put baby in the carseat with some favorite toys. Turn on Disney kid songs in the bathroom. Take a shower. Baby cries for a few minutes (she's thinking hey! mom! share some of the bathtime fun with me!). Baby (usually) falls asleep, lulled by the shower/music/toys combo. 

Once I get out of the shower, I get a few extra "getting ready" minutes by leaving the shower running! She stays asleep and I get to choose an activity: painting my toenails...plucking my eyebrows...the fun stuff. ;-)

After I turn the shower off, she usually wakes up in just a few minutes. I leave her in the carseat, though, while I blow dry and straighten my hair. Makeup can usually wait until her next naptime, unless I have somewhere to go.

As a new mom, it can be really hard to let your baby cry, even if it's just for a few minutes. But I'm realizing that this is how they learn! If they have been fed and changed, and given plenty of attention beforehand, I know that she is fine, and is just learning to self-soothe and self-entertain. This will be such a valuable trait when she is a little bit older...then maybe Mommy can pluck her eyebrows AND paint her toenails! ;-)