Avoiding mom hair (and some fake updos for short hair!)

I really, really love my A-line bob. In fact, this post was almost called "Why I love short hair." But I have to be honest: I'm growing my short hair out. This started in part because making time to go get a haircut is a little more difficult these days, and was perpetuated by the fact that Emily loves to grab my hair when I'm holding her. She doesn't have a whole lot of her own yet: 

My adorable, fuzzy-haired daughter

I keep telling her she can't grab mine and borrow it for her own use. It doesn't seem to make any impression - or maybe she just likes to pull hair, since she pulls Erin's too? At any rate, I decided it was time for a change. The problem is, growing out your hair is kind of a slow change. When I decide I want to change something, I have a hard time curbing my tendency to act immediately. The only immediate action you can take to have longer hair is not getting a haircut. 

So I haven't done that. I've been good to my growing out hair - using conditioner, trying to remember to apply the protective spray before blow drying and flat ironing (on the days I have time for that) and I've eagerly awaited the day when I'll be able to tie my hair out of the way. This is coming more slowly than I anticipated, mostly because my haircut was so much shorter in the back than in the front. My hair is almost two inches past my chin in the front, but just an inch (maybe less) below my hairline on the back of my neck. I can only make a ponytail with the help of hairspray and bobby pins, and even then only about half of my hair takes part (pun unintentional, but still funny).

Last night, I got frustrated. No, I didn't take scissors to my hair. I can hear the collective sigh from all you readers who were waiting to see my butchered DIY haircut. I did get on Pinterest, though, looking for a picture to take in to the hairstylist once my hair has gotten a bit past tieback length. I searched "shoulder length hair easy" and ran across quite a few hairstyles worth pinning, from an elegant shoulder-skimming bob to over-the-shoulder side-parted waves.  To my surprise, I also found an updo. The description said it was for chin-length to shoulder-length hair, and so I decided to give it a try. The picture showed finger-width strands of hair, pin curled randomly on the back of the head. Simple, pretty, and "finished" - a hard trio to pull off with in-between length hair!

I don't have a great picture of how it turned out, because it was late and I was being my own photographer, but: 

A fun, playful "updo" for short hair! Oh, yes, and a lovely towel. Ignore the towel :)

For only having short hair to work with, it was pretty exciting! I took it down and decided to try something else - if I could hold all my hair back with bobby pins, maybe I could make it look more polished. I brushed my hair down towards the back, as if I was going to put it in a low bun. Then I took bobby pins and pinned it down, starting at the sides and then securing the top pieces. Picture the pins in an arch shape going up and over your neck, holding your hair in place. The end result looks something like this: 

The top bobby pin is holding my bangs back -  the arch of pins starts behind my ears.

Voila! From the front, you can't tell that there's really no hair of substantial length in the back. You can wear statement earrings, get dressed up for a party, or just keep your hair out of the way in a slightly more sophisticated way. Best of all, you can do this with damp hair in the morning when you're in a rush, add those pretty earrings, and you look polished! I love it. Hmm. Now I'm not so sure about growing my hair out.  Kidding, kidding.

I polled some of my mom friends on Twitter the other day, and they all agreed that having hair at least long enough for a ponytail makes life much easier. I am hesitant at times, because when I had longer hair it seemed like I always ended up wearing it in a messy bun or ponytail, but I think that as long as I keep it around shoulder length and make sure I have layers to make it easy to style I can avoid that trap. I'd like to avoid the stereotypical "mom" haircut too, although part of me thinks that maybe young mamas should just come up with a more stylish "mom" haircut!

What kind of hairstyles do you associate with moms? Any tips for growing out your hair?