Wacky Wednesday – Who Does Your Hair?

Since this blog sat on my to do list for a while as I was busy living this life and journey, I’ve started out writing about the past. Most of it is pretty ugly. Breast Cancer isn’t really very funny. Parenthood, however, I will admit can be really really funny. And I do try to laugh at myself as often as possible. When you combine That Girl, That Guy, and My Girls, you get a pretty Wacky life. When I was a child, probably when I was learning to read, one of my favorite books was “Wacky Wednesday” by Dr. Seuss. Since we constantly talk about how wacky my oldest is, my Wednesday posts will be sharing what I think are pretty Wacky stories, quotes, and silliness from our lives. Enjoy!

So it is not a secret to those closest to me that I enjoy a good shopping trip. Over the years, I generally shop the same places and have become friendly with long time employees there. Like most expectant and then new moms, I wasn’t out shopping much during that time. About one month after my treatments started, I decided to ditch what had passed for casual office attire for some more comfortable stay-at-home mom type clothes now and again when running here and there. So out I went to find some that were a little bit more presentable than what others might mistake for pajamas. I also decided to get over my fear of having to try on clothes in public with a wig on.

First stop was Athleta. I had fallen in love with their clothes after they opened locally. The people working there are friendly and helpful. I find their casual clothes so comfortable, generally high quality, easy to wear, and wash well. Most importantly to me, I don’t feel like I’m “dressed down” necessarily when I throw on an easy leggings and top/sweater outfit from there. I am quite sure their very popular work out clothes are just as great for those of you out running marathons and doing intense training. I know they work quite well for the casual walks I’m doing these days.

When I went in, I didn’t have That Little Girl with me. It was just the new baby, my mom, and I. I was immediately greeted by a nice woman who had helped me several times before at Athleta and when she previously worked in another shop. We are, I’m guessing, close in age, kids the same age, and well, like I said, I like to shop so she had helped me before. She didn’t recognize me right away without my husband and oldest daughter, but while she was helping me she complemented my haircut, which in reality was my wig. After a couple minutes, she realized it was me and thought I had just gotten a radical haircut and new baby since we saw each other last. My mom had recently scolded me for telling everyone that I have a wig on. People who knew what I was going through had thought I decided to make a radical change prior to losing my hair. I think it is safe to say, it is not an obvious wig. I was always telling people, just because it’s sort of awkward to play along and felt like I was being dishonest.

So, super sweet salesgirl was really digging my new hair. It was so shiny! The color was so rich! I just kept saying, “Thanks!” and blushing. She went so far as to ask me where I was going to get it cut and colored, who there was my stylist, and where it was located while I was back trying clothes on. My mom was sitting across from me in a dressing room so that I could show her things as I tried on. I kept glancing at her as if, see I’m not telling her and this is getting weird. And I guess I was looking in the mirror behind her to see if my hair had gotten crooked with all the changing if I’m being honest. Finally, I had to stop this crazy talk. After I answered where I went, I explained, while he was an excellent stylist, he wasn’t responsible for what was on my head. I told her, “It’s actually a wig. I’m currently undergoing treatments for breast cancer.” I am pretty sure a sneeze from my newborn could have knocked her over. So I told her the whole story, abbreviated obviously compared to what you have read up to this point.

So lesson learned. I am likely to stay more myself and be overly open, likely creating a little awkward, and hopefully saving a lot of awkward later. Hoping to avoid wacky awkward conversations with sweet people who are just trying to help and be nice!