family emergency in the shape of a haircut

I was trying something on at Von Maur, which is my happy place department store, 10 days prior to my Dallas trip and I cringed.  

The damn changing rooms have the brightest lights and a plethora of mirrors.  Rightfully so, but damn if the mirror/light combo didn't scream:  'Hey your hair is excessively thin!'  Ouch.  

In lieu of sharing a photo of my shiny scalp, here is a fashion question for all of you (because asking you to share your thoughts on whether or not you think my scalp looks horrible or not as awful as I think it looks is just NOT gonna happen).  This is my leg sporting my favorite pants (you can click on it to read the post about when I acquired them and my devotion to shopping for a deal) with a new pair of Ecco shoes that are 'plum' in color.  I was packing super late and never got to consult my girls about what looks good with what like I usually do cause I am 49 but clueless.  I sat at the airport re-thinking the shoes.  Also, can you wear socks with these?  I technically packed the shoes to go with another outfit but since I packed so late I THOUGHT the plum looked fine with the burgundy jeans.  I later realized once I had caught up on my sleep -no, in fact they did NOT look good, so I never even wore these shoes again on the trip and COULD HAVE just worn the dang shoes I wanted to wear with these pants.  I didn't bring them because not enough room.  While I was worrying that I was standing out for being ill informed about fashion, I looked around the airport and thought:  'Yeah ANYTHING GOES nowadays!'  

I have probably mentioned that the YEARS when the dang docs failed to diagnose my celiac disease led to me not absorbing my nutrients, and ultimately hair loss.  I am still working with a doctor to figure out what, if anything, might help to inspire new growth.  

When my hair gets long, it tends to drag and my scalp is that much more noticeable.  It wasn't until a WEEK after my dressing room cringe moment that I realized, 'Holy crap, I have not had a hair cut since a few weeks before Thanksgiving.'  I convinced myself that I NEEDED a haircut before Dallas so my hair would be lighter and fluffier and less 'wow - look at her scalp!'-ish.

By the time I realized this, it was Wednesday early morning and my flight was early Friday.  Crap.  I texted my hairdresser.  She texted back that she could do Thursday at 11:30 or that same day, Wednesday, at noon.  I have a preschooler who gets on a bus at 11:45, so that would not work.  I liked the same-day time.  I asked Mini what time she ate lunch at school.  11:45-ish.  Bingo.  

Mini was like, 'You are gonna need a note from a doctor to get me out of school.'  

This is a woman working at the shoe dept
at Von Maur.  She makes me laugh because
 the employees there are all put together and
 stuff and this woman TOTALLY reminds me
of Kate McKinnon from SNL.  Her hair is
falling out of her clip.  She carries too many shoes
boxes at once and I anticipate her swearing as
 she drops all of them some day.  She mumbles
 to herself.  And looks like she should have a
cigarette hanging out of her mouth.
 She keeps pencils in her hair.   

Me:  Like hell I do. 

I considered lying that she needed to see a physical therapist and then stopping less than a mile away from school on my way back from the hair place at Coach's work and getting him to sign a note.  But, then I was like - nope.  I need to borrow my kid for 35 minutes and that is the way it is and if the school doesn't like it they can bite me.  So, I told them the truth.  

Sometimes to get things done, you need to think outside the box.  I called the school and let them know we had a family emergency in the shape of my haircut need.  

compliments of giphy.com - this is
the character she reminds me of!

Mini sat in the car in front of the place with her cell phone in case she needed me.  I left the van running because it is January in Chicago and I am not a monster.  She dealt with the three babies while I ran in and got a haircut.  Between 5 minutes drive there and back and 25 minutes of a cut, she was back in a flash.  She was equipped in the car with bottles and food pouches, etc.  She ranked the babies (two 1 year olds and a 7 month old) on their behavior/cooperation.  I could have predicted which ones would have been easy and which ones would have been a pain.

I loved my haircut, and my family-emergency-remove-kid-from-class worked like a charm.  


Reggie who cannot lift a finger around here to help me (not that Mini does either, really) was more than willing to offer his get-out-of-school-free-card abilities if I needed him.  He was like, 'Hey, I can . . . '  I declined to use his services, but thanked him for his interest.